After Roe v. Wade was overturned in a 5-4 decision U.S. Supreme Court, Along with the 6-3 decision to uphold Mississippi’s abortion ban, the privacy and security concerns of patient data are now in the spotlight. Some bad actors may try to weaponize this data.
“The value of reproductive health data will skyrocket,” said Bethany Corbin, an attorney with Nixon Gwilt who works with the femtech company. “Health data is already more valuable than credit card data, now states criminalize abortion, and hackers are more motivated to track your organization’s data.”
Guttmacher Institute 26 states estimated to act quickly Banning abortions, 13 states have triggered laws that will go into effect shortly after today’s ruling, limiting abortions after a certain number of weeks. The bans mean that sensitive patient data, such as interactions with telehealth providers to obtain abortion medication, could pose a threat to organizations or individuals if it falls into the wrong hands.
If hackers obtain data that shows they are violating state law, they could be incentivized to blackmail patients and expect a ransom, Corbin said.
Lawmakers introduced the “my body, my data bill” to protect personal health data, in response to leaked draft comments on Roe.
Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and U.S. Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA) introduced the bill. “It’s just common sense that data brokers, tech companies and advertisers should not put sensitive personal information on the public auction block of anyone with a credit card,” Wyden said in a news release.
Today, Wyden highlights the need for data security His reaction to Roe’s final decision.
“Furthermore, Congress must pass legislation to protect people’s data so that their web searches, text messages and location tracking don’t become weapons against them,” Wyden said in the release. “Tech companies must take immediate steps to limit the collection and retention of customer data before it becomes a tool of persecution.”
He also co-sponsored Health and Location Data Protection Act Working with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the legislation prohibits data brokers from engaging in what he calls “uterine monitoring,” and would apply to technologies such as period-tracking apps.
The cybersecurity threat posed by Roe’s overthrow affects not only individuals, but employers as well.
For employers who have vowed to protect their employees’ access to abortion, including several major corporations such as Yelp, Citigroup and Apple, that means navigating tricky state statutes.
“It’s easy to say in theory that you’re going to offer abortion benefits, but what does that mean? Will the individual go to the closest state, or the three states with better medical care, and how are they going to let the employer know? There’s a potential privacy risk here,” he said. Corbin said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of challenges figuring out how to provide that benefit.”
Even with the challenges, she predicts that providing abortion services is a benefit that companies will use to differentiate themselves as they try to attract employees in this competitive job-seeker economy. She believes it would be safer to provide abortion benefits through an employee-sponsored health plan because patient data would be protected by HIPAA.
Some states have considered themselves safe harbors, offering abortions to people in other states, but laws on interstate abortion have yet to be finalized.
in a statement NYC Health & Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD, said the hospital will continue to offer abortions to anyone.
“We will do everything we can to accommodate patients near and far. We will take the necessary steps to protect the safety of our patients and the health care professionals who provide these services,” Katz said.
Pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List celebrates overthrow and said in a statement A “new anti-abortion movement starts today”. The SBA list goes on to say: “We are poised for a lifetime offense in every legislature, every state capitol, and the White House. Over the next few years, we will have the opportunity to save hundreds of thousands and even hundreds of thousands by limiting abortion terror in many states. millions of lives.”
However, the group whose key stakeholders have pledged to protect life issued a pointed statement in stark contrast to the overt right to life.
“The American Medical Association is deeply disturbed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a nearly half-century of precedent that protects patients’ right to vital reproductive health care — a serious sanction for government intrusion into the examination room, for medical practice and the doctor-patient relationship, And a blatant violation of patients’ right to access evidence-based reproductive health services. Countries that end legal abortion will not end abortion — they will end safe abortion, risking devastating consequences, including the lives of patients.”
Photo: anyaberkut, Getty Images
