The Florida Board of Medicine has changed its Standards for Telemedicine Practice by allowing controlled substances to be prescribed through the use of telemedicine only for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
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In a report of an audit of 13 IRS approved tax filing firms, Online Trust Alliance found that six of the 13 firms do not provide adequate security against cyberintrusions.
The firms, all members of the IRS’s Free File...more
As we stated in last week’s Insider, Monday, February 29, 2016, is the last day to self-report under 500 breaches of unsecured protected health information to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) through the online breach...more
Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have reported that malware dubbed Xbot is targeting devices in Australia and Russia but predict that the malware may become widespread.
It is particularly worrisome as it attacks...more
In its third release of HIPAA guidance over the past few weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released“The Real HIPAA: Care Coordination, Care Planning, and Case Management Examples” to assist covered...more
ASUS TeK Computer, Inc. (ASUS) has agreed to settle with the FTC over allegations that “critical security flaws in its routers put the home networks of hundreds of thousands of consumers at risk.” The FTC further alleges that...more
Just another ransomware to worry about—Locky, a ransomware that attacks systems with malicious macros has logged almost a half a million sessions in the U.S....more
Fiat Chrysler asked a federal court in Illinois last week to dismiss the proposed class action against it, asserting that inadequate security puts vehicles at risk for hacking after two security researchers were able to take...more
A Forbes reporter was able to hack into a home alarm system in San Francisco using a browser and “easily-guessable passwords.” The hacking was with permission of the owner but allowed him to make his point—that he could...more
The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Butterfly Labs, alleging that it charged customers for Bitcoin mining machines (“BitForce”), and then failed to deliver them until they “were practically useless, or in...more
In the category of “Seriously—not again?” Radiology Regional Center, located in Fort Myers, Florida, notified over 480,000 individuals and the Office for Civil Rights that their medical records, including names, dates of...more
The ACLU of California has published the Third Edition of Privacy & Free Speech: It’s Good for Business a 42 page “roadmap” of how businesses can promote privacy and free speech and be a leader in respecting individuals’...more
The Office for Civil Rights has provided additional educational materials for app developers through the app developers portal that it developed last fall.
The new material is intended to assist healthcare entities and...more
Many have predicted that health care providers will continue to be targeted by hackers in the next few years. To illustrate the point, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center has been hit hard by a ransomware...more
Pursuant to HIPAA/HITECH, covered entities are required to report breaches of unsecured protected health information that occurred in 2015 and affected less than 500 individuals to the Office for Civil Rights no later than 60...more
Boasting on a Twitter account, a hacker has claimed that he accessed over 9,000 Department of Homeland Security employees’ demographic information, including names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and titles....more
On February 5, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued proposes changes to the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records regulations, also known as “Part 2 records” which were published...more
I am fortunate to teach the Privacy Law class at Roger Williams University School of Law on Tuesday afternoons. Yesterday, we discussed all of the laws relating to the financial services industry. OK, not the most exciting...more
We previously reported that Shutterfly Inc. was unsuccessful in persuading an Illinois federal judge to dismiss the biometrics case against it.
Last week, Shutterfly moved for reconsideration of the denial, basing the...more
In an unusual scenario, in fact, only the second time in history, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) was successful before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in obtaining an order for the payment of civil monetary fines as a...more
Earlier this week, President Obama, by Executive Order, established the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity within the Department of Commerce.
The commission will be comprised of up to 12 members including...more
On February 5, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has agreed to settle its case against Vulcun alleging that it “unfairly replaced a popular web browser game with a program that installed applications...more
As one who is frequently asked “What happens when I become the victim of identity theft?” or “How do I prevent myself from becoming the victim of identity theft?”, I am a pretty big fan of the FTC’s website and refer people...more
The U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission announced on Tuesday that they have entered into a new transatlantic safe harbor transfer agreement, which comes two days after the deadline set by EU data...more
Four students attending the University of California, Berkeley, sued Google last week alleging that it violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act by scanning and mining their emails in order to create advertising...more