| Features |
 |
| Complete
Bar Journal |
In
the Wake of Contagious Diseases, Looking for the Balance
Between Personal Privacy and Public Health
Americans revel in the right of privacy afforded but not mentioned
in the U.S. Constitution. Individuals’ right of privacy
can limit governmental intrusion, even intrusion for a public
purpose. Sometimes the balance goes the other way, with privacy
yielding to public good. This balance has changed over time and
continues to evolve. How intact is personal privacy in terms
of bodily integrity and decisional privacy when an individual
suffers an infectious disease that endangers public health? The
answer is that it all depends. |
Oklahoma's
Security Breach Notification Act
It seems like every week we see a report on the news or read a newspaper
story about a data or security breach where a person's sensitive
and personally identifying information, including name, address,
Social Security number, credit card number and/or medical history,
collected by a bank, company, credit union, hospital, law firm, university
or state or federal government entity was released into the "wild" and/or
obtained by the bad guys. |
It’s
Just a Social Security Number, Right?
An individual’s right to privacy is a relatively
new right when compared with the enumerated rights of the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights. One of the first mentions of a specific
right to privacy was by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis in an
1890 Harvard Law Review article titled “The Right
to Privacy” in which the two discuss contractual and property
rights theories used in support of judicial opinions. The two
proposed that a right to privacy is a better solution to successfully
resolve issues that failed to fit perfectly into any existing
legal theory. |
Up Next: The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination
Act
In May 2008, Congress overwhelming
passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
that was then signed into law by President George W. Bush
on May 21, 2008. This
article explores a brief history of genetics leading up to
the passage of GINA and the resulting impact GINA will have
on health plans and insurers and employers. |
Identity Theft Red Flags
and Address Discrepancies
Identity thieves use people's private and personally identifiable
information to open new accounts and misuse existing accounts, creating havoc
for consumers and businesses. The crime of identity theft afflicts millions of
Americans each year, and in some cases, causes devastating damage to its
victims. A recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report estimated that over 8.3
million U.S. adults discovered they were victims of some form of identity theft,
causing them to spend between $1,200 and $2,000 and 55-130 hours to recover. |
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