Privacy Law and You
Privacy law
Privacy laws are designed to protect specific
types of information such as health information, financial information, etc.
about individuals. Some examples include:
Health Confidentiality
Laws
Here is a subject that has
been in the public eye since April of 2003 when the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996 went into effect.
Providers and health
insurers who are required to follow this law must comply with your right
to:
- Ask to see and get a copy of your
health records
- Have corrections added to your
health information
- Receive a notice that tells you
how your health information may be used and shared
- Decide if you want to give your
permission before your health information can be used or shared for certain
purposes, such as for marketing
- Get a report on when and why your
health information was shared for certain purposes
To make sure that
your information is protected in a way that does not interfere with your health
care, your information can be used and shared:
- For your treatment and care
coordination
- To pay doctors and hospitals for
your health care and help run their businesses
- With your family, relatives,
friends or others you identify who are involved with your health care or your
health care bills unless you object
- To make sure doctors give good
care and nursing homes are clean and safe
- To protect the public’s health,
such as reporting when the flu is in your area
- To make required reports to
the police, such as reporting gunshot wounds
Your health
information cannot be used or shared without your written permission unless this
law allows it. For example, without your authorization, your provider generally
cannot:
- Give your information to your
employer
- Use or share your information for
marketing or advertising purposes
- Share private notes about
your mental health counseling sessions
If
you believe your rights are being denied or your health information isn’t being
protected, you can either file a complaint with your provider, health insurer,
or with the
U.S. Government
.
Financial Privacy
Laws
It is the policy of the Congress that each
financial institution has an affirmative and continuing obligation to respect
the privacy of its customers and to protect the security and confidentiality of
those customers' nonpublic personal information.
Financial institutions must have safeguards in
place relating to administrative, technical, and physical safeguards:
-
to insure the security and
confidentiality of customer reords and information;
-
to protect against any
anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such records;
and
-
to protect against unauthorized access to or use
of such records or information which could result in substantial harm or
inconvenience to any customer.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
The primary goal of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule
is to give parents control over what information is collected from their
children online and how such information may be used.
The Rule applies to:
The Rule requires operators to:
- Post a privacy policy on
the homepage of the Web site and link to the privacy policy on every page
where personal information is collected.
- Provide notice about the
site’s information collection practices to parents and obtain verifiable
parental consent before collecting personal information from children.
- Give parents a choice as to
whether their child’s personal information will be disclosed to third parties.
- Provide parents access to
their child’s personal information and the opportunity to delete the child’s
personal information and opt-out of future collection or use of the
information.
- Not condition a child’s
participation in a game, contest or other activity on the child’s disclosing
more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in that
activity.
-
Maintain the confidentiality, security and integrity of personal information collected from
children.
Communication Privacy
Laws
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of
1986 is an act was
passed by Congress in 1986 to bring new communications technologies under the
umbrella of the federal wiretap laws. Though largely aimed at preventing
invasions of privacy by government, the law also prohibited private-sector
providers of electronic communications services from divulging their
contents.
Privacy Law questions answered by your own attorney along with other valuable legal services here.
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