EFF Urges States to Investigate Pregnancy Clinic HIPAA Protections
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) penned letters to the attorneys general of Florida, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas Tuesday urging them to investigate pregnancy crisis centers (CPCs) who may have misrepresented that the information given to them by patients would be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, said Corynne McSherry, EFF’s legal director, in a blog post Wednesday.
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“EFF is deeply concerned that people in your state may rely on these representations when they share personal information with these centers and others with similar practices,” McSherry said in the letters.
Such facilities offer pregnancy tests, counseling, information and in some instances, limited medical services, but have a strong anti-abortion stance and are often linked to religious organizations, said McSherry. An incident in Louisiana, when a software training video accidentally disclosed the names and personal information of about 12 clients, raised concerns that CPCs may be sharing client information within their networks without privacy or anonymity protection, she said.
“Regardless of your views on reproductive healthcare, we should all agree that privacy is a basic human right, and that consumers deserve transparency,” McSherry said. “Our elected officials have a responsibility to ensure that personal information, especially our sensitive medical data, is protected.”
“As we’ve noted before, there are far too few protections for user privacy -- including medical privacy -- and individuals have little control over how their personal data is collected, stored, and used,” she said. “Until Congress passes a comprehensive privacy law that includes a private right of action, state attorneys general must take proactive steps to protect their constituents from unfair or deceptive privacy practices.”