Protections For Reproductive Health Data Begin To Click In
Planned Parenthood's website had contained marketing trackers, but the organization will remove them over concerns that users' health data could be compromised. Period tracking app Flo is also preparing an anonymous mode to better cover user privacy. The Health and Human Services Department separately clarified how HIPAA should and shouldn't play into patient data disclosures to law enforcement.
The Washington Post:
Planned Parenthood Suspends Marketing Trackers On Abortion Search Pages
Planned Parenthood said it will remove the marketing trackers on its search pages related to abortions and that no protected health information has been breached thus far. The comments came after The Washington Post reported Wednesday findings from Lockdown Privacy, the maker of an app that blocks online trackers, showing that when visitors used the website’s search function to find an abortion provider and begin to schedule an appointment, Planned Parenthood shared data on those actions with third-party tracking companies including Google, Facebook and TikTok. (Hunger, 6/30)
NPR:
Period Tracker App Flo Developing 'Anonymous Mode' To Quell Post-Roe Privacy Concerns
"Flo will always stand up for the health of women, and this includes providing our users with full control over their data," said Susanne Schumacher, the data protection officer for Flo, said in a release sent to NPR. "Flo will never share or sell user data, and only collects data when we have a legal basis to do so and when our users have given their informed consent. Any data we do collect is fully encrypted, and this will never change." (Kilpatrick, 6/30)
Modern Healthcare:
HHS Issues HIPAA Guidance After Abortion Ruling
Providers shouldn't cite the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act as a reason to disclose a patient's abortion plan to law enforcement, the Health and Human Services Department said Wednesday. Under HIPAA, healthcare providers are allowed to disclose—including to law enforcement— a patient's medical information if they believe it's needed to prevent or lessen a "serious and imminent threat" to health or safety. (Kim Cohen, 6/30)
NBC News:
Post-Roe, ‘Camping’ Has Become Code For Abortions. Activists Say It May Put People At Risk
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, social media has been flooded by posts from people offering to take people "camping" — coded language for assisting people seeking abortions out of state. ... A code isn’t a code “if you tell everybody what the code is," said Kari Nixon, an assistant professor of English at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, who studies medical humanities. “There seems to be this sense of not taking this truly seriously enough.” (Sung and Goggin, 6/30)
Stat:
Abortion Decision Sparks Health Tech's Cambridge Analytica Moment
In 2018, the tech industry found itself in a harsh spotlight amid a scandal involving a company called Cambridge Analytica, which had collected and used the data of millions of Facebook users, seemingly without their consent. It prompted a public outcry, congressional hearings, a $5 billion fine, and permanently altered the discourse around how social media firms use data. In the wake of a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, health data privacy is getting its own Cambridge Analytica moment. (Aguilar, 6/30)
In related news from Washington state —
CNN:
Washington State Police Will Not Comply With Out-Of-State Agency Requests For Abortion-Related Information, Governor Says
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee issued a directive Thursday that bars state police from cooperating with out-of-state investigatory requests related to abortion in his efforts to make the state a "sanctuary" for those seeking the services. (Sarisohn, 7/1)
