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Disclaimer: IANAL If you're in the Unites States, the data is probably protected by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act[1]. HIPAA in

Disclaimer: IANAL If you're in the Unites States, the data is probably protected by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act[1]. HIPAA includes a clause stating that the Attorney General or their designee may issue a subpoena compelling your SO to disclose that information, but only to someone investigating a Federal health care offense. I've searched through the rest of HIPAA for keywords such as "law enforcement", "criminal", and "disclosure", but I couldn't find anything about being compelled to disclose HIPAA-protected information to law enforcement in any other circumstance than investigation of a Federal health care offense. However, I did not thoroughly read HIPAA, and there might be something in another section of the US Code that's relevant. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about this can let me know if I've missed something. [1]: http://www.legalarchiver.org/hipaa.htm http://www.legalarchiver.org/hipaa.htm

araneae 16y ago
Yup, that's the case. The question is whether or your hard drive is protected from a criminal charges subpoena. The data is kept encrypted on the hard drive, but of course the authorities don't know what's on the hard drive until it's decrypted.
- aperiodic 16y ago
  Disclaimer: IANAL. Edit: My understanding of HIPAA was incorrect. 45 C.F.R 164.512: A covered entity may use or disclose protected health information without the written consent or authorization of the individual... in the situations covered by this section, subject to the applicable requirements of this section. (a) Standard: Uses and disclosures required by law. (1) A covered entity may use or disclose protected health information to the extent that such use or disclosure is required by law and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law. This would seem to give court orders and criminal subpoenas the power to demand decryption of your hard drive regardless of whatever HIPAA data it contains.
  - deleted 16y ago
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philwelch 16y ago
So basically, if you obtain a copy of your own medical records and steganographically embed your private information into them, you're OK?
- aperiodic 16y ago
  No, for two reasons. 1. HIPAA doesn't apply to you unless you're an employee of a covered entity, that is, a health care provider, health care plan, or a firm contracted by a member of the previous two categories to handle billing. You can hand out your private medical information to whomever you want without worrying about HIPAA. 2. Even if HIPAA did, it doesn't give you the power to refuse to disclose HIPAA data when such disclosure is required by law[1]. [1] 45 CFR 164.512 (a): http://www.publichealthlaw.net/Reader/docs/HIPAA.pdf http://www.publichealthlaw.net/Reader/docs/HIPAA.pdf

araneae 16y ago

Yup, that's the case. The question is whether or your hard drive is protected from a criminal charges subpoena. The data is kept encrypted on the hard drive, but of course the authorities don't know what's on the hard drive until it's decrypted.

aperiodic 16y ago
Disclaimer: IANAL. Edit: My understanding of HIPAA was incorrect. 45 C.F.R 164.512: A covered entity may use or disclose protected health information without the written consent or authorization of the individual... in the situations covered by this section, subject to the applicable requirements of this section. (a) Standard: Uses and disclosures required by law. (1) A covered entity may use or disclose protected health information to the extent that such use or disclosure is required by law and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law. This would seem to give court orders and criminal subpoenas the power to demand decryption of your hard drive regardless of whatever HIPAA data it contains.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

philwelch 16y ago

So basically, if you obtain a copy of your own medical records and steganographically embed your private information into them, you're OK?

aperiodic 16y ago
No, for two reasons. 1. HIPAA doesn't apply to you unless you're an employee of a covered entity, that is, a health care provider, health care plan, or a firm contracted by a member of the previous two categories to handle billing. You can hand out your private medical information to whomever you want without worrying about HIPAA. 2. Even if HIPAA did, it doesn't give you the power to refuse to disclose HIPAA data when such disclosure is required by law[1]. [1] 45 CFR 164.512 (a): http://www.publichealthlaw.net/Reader/docs/HIPAA.pdf http://www.publichealthlaw.net/Reader/docs/HIPAA.pdf