Civil Rights › Science, Computers & Technology

OCR Wants Feedback From Audited Covered Entities

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is preparing to conduct an online survey of the 115 covered entities it audited in 2012 as part of the HITECH-mandated, pilot audit program. OCR hopes to use the survey results to evaluate...more

How Flexible Are You? Stretching the Boundaries with a Remote Workforce

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer's recent decision to ban telecommuting has highlighted the issue of how employers of all sizes respond to technological changes that are redefining the workplace. ...more

European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy publish opinion on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation

Following the lead of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), which already released its draft report (see our prior blog), 20 February, the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and...more

President Obama Signs Executive Order on Cybersecurity

As announced during the 2013 State of the Union Address, President Obama recently signed an Executive Order on cybersecurity. The primary goals of the Executive Order are to (a) improve communication between private companies...more

Closed Captioning Reminder: Starting March 30, 2013, Video Programming That Is or Was Aired Live or “Near Live” on TV Must Be...

The time is drawing near for the next phase of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements implementing the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) for closed-captioning video programing...more

Capper, Dir of National Intelligence, et al v. Amnesty International USA et al

SCOTUS Dismisses Federal Wiretapping Challenge

Full text copy of Supreme Court's dismissal of lawsuit challenging federal wiretapping program. On Tuesday, February 26, 2013, a divided Court dismissed a challenge to the FISA Amendments Act, which permits federal...more

Textual Harassment Could CRE8 Liability For Employers

Originally published in Westlaw Journal Employment (Volume 27, Issue 15), February 20, 2013. Consider the following three scenarios: Scenario one: Terrence worked as a flight attendant for Fly Right Airlines. While...more

Full Text: Preserving American Privacy Act (PAPA)

Full text copy of the Preserving American Privacy Act (PAPA) sponsored and introduced by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-California) and Ted Poe (R-Texas) to "provide for a legal framework for the operation of public unmanned...more

President Obama's Executive Order: "Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity"

Full text copy of President Obama's executive order calling for greater protections against cybersecurity risks, as mentioned in his Feb 12, 2013, State of the Union address. The order is meant to bring more security and...more

A Detailed Analysis of Changes to HIPAA and the Implications for Healthcare Providers and Others in the Healthcare Industry: GINA

Background: GINA prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s genetic information in both the employment and health coverage contexts. In 2009, HHS published a notice of proposed rulemaking to strengthen the privacy...more

HIPAA Omnibus Regulations: Protections for Genetic Information

Today’s post focuses on the treatment of genetic information under the new regulations for the Privacy and Security Rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Ogletree Deakins has...more

Geolocational Privacy Law Evolved Slowly in 2012

The law of geolocational privacy continued to evolve in 2012 even though the Supreme Court sidestepped the issue in a potential landmark case. Despite the lack of clarity from the Supreme Court, there will be more...more

Indiana Sex Offender Social Website Ban Law Is Unconstitutional

An Indiana statute prohibiting most registered sex offenders from using social networking websites is unconstitutional because it is an overly broad infringement of First Amendment rights. The Indiana law prohibited...more

Be Prepared: Redline Version of the HIPAA/HITECH Final Rule

The final rule is significant for any organization that is considered to be a HIPAA covered entity (“CE”) (health systems, health care providers, health plans, etc.) or the more broadly defined business associate (“BA”)....more

Texas Court Refuses To Prohibit RFID Tags In School

On January 8, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued a ruling denying a preliminary injunction in a case involving the use radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags embedded in name badges to...more

Clip of Deposition May Remain on YouTube

A video clip from a policeman’s deposition may remain on YouTube because the city failed to justify why it should be taken down. The City of Collinsville, Illinois, sought a protective order to remove the video clip, which...more

OCR Releases De-Identification Guidance

The HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently released guidance intended to assist covered entities in understanding what de-identification is, the general process by which de-identified information can be created, and the...more

OCR Issues Guidance on Methods for De-Identification of PHI Under HIPAA

On November 26th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released guidance on the methods that covered entities and business associates can use to de-identify protected health...more

OCR publishes guidance on two methods for de-identifying protected health information

On November 26, 2012, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published guidance (the "Guidance") on the two approved methods for de-identifying protected health information (PHI) to satisfy the HIPAA Privacy Rule's...more

Guidance Regarding Methods for De-identification of Protected Health Information in Accordance with the Health Insurance...

The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights released its long-awaited guidance regarding the de-identification of protected health information in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and...more

EEOC Plaintiff Must Disclose Passwords to Former Employer

A Colorado federal judge ordered that a person suing her former employer must provide all of her cell phone messages, social media passwords, and passwords to access any of her email accounts or blogs for the judge’s in...more

Does the Communications Decency Act Protect Human Trafficking?

The State of Texas may find out and it may be more applicable to your site than you think. In early filing for the 2013 legislative session, Democratic state Senator Leticia Van de Putte proposed a bill aimed at stopping at...more

Sex, E-mail & Privacy – You Have Privacy Rights For As Long As No One Is Interested

On November 15, 2012, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference (SOGIC) of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) held a seminar on “Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity: Managing Personal Privacy and Reputational...more

Labour Notes - November 2012

In This Issue: - Workplace Confidential? Supreme Court Rules That Employees Have Right To Privacy Over Their Work Computer - Q & A . . .2 - Progress of Legislation ..Federal . . . 3 ..Ontario ....more

Palo Alto Boy Returns To School After DNA Flap

A Palo Alto 6th grade boy was allowed to return to his middle school after his family convinced the school officials that they did not need to worry about his genes....more