Protecting Sensitive Health Information Nationwide
In today’s increasingly digital age, intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth apps have become important tools for Americans. These accessible apps allow people to address health needs like checkups, mental health, or tracking general wellness.
However, under this convenience lies a troubling concern: a major invasion of health apps data privacy. Medical organizations and legal experts warn that patient data sharing with these apps is worsening an already growing issue.
Several medical organizations have informed regulators that unsuspecting people who authorize consumer apps to retrieve, store, and distribute their health data could be causing data misuse and data theft.
The Lyon Firm does not allow large corporations to get away with the rampant misuse of sensitive data. A health app lawsuit can help you retake control of your personal information. Contact us online or call (513) 381-2333 to learn how our team can protect your privacy.
FTC Health Data Privacy Laws
The most recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) policy on health app data privacy underlines the importance of corporate transparency. While health app developers must inform consumers of data breach incidents, this alone is not enough to safeguard patient data.
Health apps and wearable fitness tracking devices that collect patient health information are usually subject to the Health Breach Notification Rule if they can pull data from multiple sources.
However, many health apps are not regulated under HIPAA, even though they may collect and store the same sensitive data as other HIPAA-covered entities, like clinics or pharmacies.
The FTC says that while the Health Breach Notification Rule is now more than ten years old, the “explosion in health apps and connected devices makes its requirements with respect to them more important than ever.”
Consumer Health Data Stored by Apps
Beware of health app data that is regularly collected and stored, which may include the following:
- Names
- Device names
- Locations
- Operating system version
- Web browsing behavior
- Medications
- Email addresses
- International mobile equipment identity (IMEI)
- Fingerprint identification on mobile phones
- Media access control (MAC)
Who Is My Data Shared With?
Consumer data may be shared with app developers, parent firms, and third-party digital ad, sales, and marketing companies. Some fourth parties may also wind up with the data. Tech companies like Alphabet, Facebook, and Oracle build profiles of users and target them with ads.
For many companies, collecting health information from health app consumers is part of their underlying business model. However, they are still expected to adhere to data breach notification policies to ensure compliance and transparency.
ABOUT THE LYON FIRM
Joseph Lyon has 17 years of experience representing individuals in complex litigation matters. He has represented individuals in every state against many of the largest companies in the world.
The Firm focuses on single-event civil cases and class actions involving corporate neglect & fraud, toxic exposure, product defects & recalls, medical malpractice, and invasion of privacy.
NO COST UNLESS WE WIN
The Firm offers contingency fees, advancing all costs of the litigation, and accepting the full financial risk, allowing our clients full access to the legal system while reducing the financial stress while they focus on their healthcare and financial needs.
Why Are Data Privacy Cases Important?
Without personal data privacy violation class actions, large corporate defendants would be able to cause harm to a large group of individuals without any risk of monetary penalty.
By holding companies accountable for safely storing your personal information, every consumer will have more control over how their data is used in the future.
Learn About the Legal Process
In today’s increasingly digital age, intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth apps have become important tools for Americans. These accessible apps allow people to address health needs like checkups, mental health, or tracking general wellness.
However, under this convenience lies a troubling concern: a major invasion of health apps data privacy. Medical organizations and legal experts warn that patient data sharing with these apps is worsening an already growing issue.
