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Over 80 countries have regional or federal laws governing the privacy and use of personal, health, and health care information. Some of these laws are dedicated to health information only: for instance, the United States has the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Other countries have provisions specifically addressing personal or health data within more general data or privacy laws: for instance, Brazil’s health data protections are within its Credit Information Law of 2011, Indonesia’s within Article 57 of Law 36 of 2009, and Italy’s within Legislative Decree of 20 June 2003. These and other countries’ laws require varying levels of privacy and security measures, use obligations, and penalties for breach of such provisions.
In Australia, the privacy of personal health information is governed by the Privacy Act of 1988. Recently several health care institution staff members in South Australia were caught inappropriately accessing medical records; two of those caught have been dismissed from their jobs. The issue may result in an independent judicial inquiry examining the suitability and integrity of South Australia’s entire health information management system. In the U.S., under HIPAA, financial sanctions for the offending institution, as well as civil suit, would be also considered as sanctions.
Personal, health, and health care privacy laws are evolving as methods of data collection, transmission, and storage evolve – that is, almost daily. Penalties for violation of such laws governing your business may include financial sanctions, litigation, or injunctive orders. Assure that your data management system is compliant by consulting with an attorney at an Ally Law member firm. Ally Law member firms from every country have attorneys experienced in all aspects of compliant data collection, use, and storage. For more information about our services in this area, contact us at yourally@ally-law.com.
By Russell Kennedy.
