The settlement is the FTC’s first ban on selling sensitive location data.
The Biden administration stopped a company from selling data on people’s medical visits on Tuesday, its first settlement on a privacy issue that has many Americans concerned about who can see their most sensitive personal data — particularly visits to abortion providers.
After an investigation, the Federal Trade Commission said it had reached a settlement with Outlogic, a location data broker formerly known as X-Mode Social, which had been collecting information on people’s visits to medical centers.
The settlement is the first major enforcement on location data since a 2022 executive order directed the government to ramp up privacy protections for anyone seeking an abortion.
The FTC has been cracking down on health privacy violations after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutional right to an abortion when it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. A Biden executive order in July 2022 directed federal agencies to protect people’s privacy related to reproductive health care services.
See my reply further down the chain. There’s no need for a law degree, and it’s incredibly simple to tell if HIPAA has even a slight chance of applying.
Nothing about this situation is related to HIPAA, and doesn’t even come close to HIPAA being relevant. People just throw the acronym around, which is what makes no damn sense.
This is covered by FTC regulations, and I agree it shouldn’t be allowed to be sold. But not at all something HIPAA would apply to.