Lesley Fair writes: In the hierarchy of confidential data, health information ranks right up there. And in the hierarchy of health information, details about a person’s mental health may be among the most confidential. But according to the FTC, that’s not how online counseling service BetterHelp viewed it. The FTC says the company repeatedly pushed…
Category: Healthcare
Texas Republican wants ISPs to block a wide range of abortion websites
Jon Brodkin reports: A proposed state law in Texas would force Internet service providers to block websites containing information on how to obtain an abortion or abortion pill. Republican lawmaker Steve Toth, a member of the state House of Representatives, introduced the bill last week. Texas already has several laws that heavily restrict access to abortion, but the new…
Ford’s Request of Employee Family Medical Histories Violates Illinois Law, Class Action Alleges
A class action alleges Ford Motor Company unlawfully asks applicants and employees to provide their family medical histories and then uses this information to make employment decisions. Kelly Mehorter reports: The 16-page case more specifically claims Ford has run afoul of the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), a state law designed to protect residents…
Italian Garante Fines Three Hospitals Over Their Use of AI for Risk Stratification Purposes, Establishes That Predictive Medicine Processing Requires the Patient’s Explicit Consent
Kristof Van Quathem and Giulia Romana Mele of Covington & Burling write: On 24 January 2023, the Italian Supervisory Authority (“Garante”) announced it fined three hospitals in the amount of 55,000 EUR each for their unlawful use an artificial intelligence (“AI”) system for risk stratification purposes, i.e., to systematically categorize patients based on their health status. The…