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I work in public mental health and earlier today got my weekly Becker Hospital Review email, which contained info about the Federal Trade Commission issuing a s

I work in public mental health and earlier today got my weekly Becker Hospital Review email, which contained info about the Federal Trade Commission issuing a statement expressing privacy concerns about the merger. Not sure whether these FTC statements are routine whenever global megacorps gobble up smaller companies, or whether they're issued based on past performance of the companies in question. "The Federal Trade Commission issued a statement Feb. 27 warning Amazon and One Medical that it must keep healthcare data safe and is prohibited from using it for advertising or marketing purposes. Amazon said it would not share One Medical patients' personal health information to sell other Amazon products, and the FTC said the company must uphold that statement. 'Companies that fail to abide by the commitments and representations they have made to consumers can violate Section 5 of the FTC Act,' the FTC wrote. The FTC also said both companies must make it clear on how they will use protected health information as defined by HIPAA, as well as how Amazon will use One Medical patient data for purposes 'beyond the provision of healthcare.' Amazon completed its $3.9 billion acquisition of virtual and in-person primary care company One Medical on Feb. 22." Becker - https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/disruptors/ftc-warns-amazon-one-medical-to-keep-healthcare-data-private.html https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/disruptors/ftc-warns-a... FTC Statement in full - https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2210191amazononemedicalkhanslaughterwilsonbedoya.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2210191amazonon...

V__ 4y ago
> Companies that fail to abide [...] can violate Section 5 of the FTC Act I'm sure the fine will be a real deterrent. Just like the fines have deterred Amazon to stop their anti-union practices. I wonder if we will ever see some antitrust measures ever again, or if it is just going to be a free for all from now on.
- godsfshrmn 4y ago
  Just look at GoodRx recently to see how this veiled this threat is
  - DaiPlusPlus 4y ago
    I looked it up just now... > GoodRx will be prohibited from sharing user health data with applicable third parties for advertising purposes, and has agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty for violating the rule. Meanwhile, GoodRx's revenue in 2021 was $745 million.
    - jeremyjh 4y ago
      Don’t forget the black mark on their permanent record!
      - amelius 4y ago
        It would be nice if black marks could be easily seen by consumers. For example by forcing the use of a "BM" (black mark) text next to the "TM" symbol in a company's logo.
        DaiPlusPlus 4y ago
        “Bowel Movement” seems more appropriate
    - jchw 4y ago
      Interesting. So that's like, 0.2% of their gross revenue, about? Meanwhile, if my cursory math isn't screwed up, if your gross annual income is $100,000, 0.2% of your salary is $200. So basically, they got something roughly akin to a speeding ticket.
      - DaiPlusPlus 4y ago
        But consider that when you get a speeding ticket your car insurance goes up and you often end-up paying far more than just the initial infraction fine. And you can be automatically disqualified from driving entirely once you get enough points on your license. So if the fine were even remotely as impactful as a speeding-ticket is to a normal person then GoodRX would have just earned 3 penalty points on their business-license, have substantially higher business indemnity insurance costs, and once they hit enough points and caught doing-business-while-impetuous (DWI) again then the state would seize their business and crush it under a tank[1] and those at the wheel would be behind bars. Somehow I doubt anything remotely close to that will happen to GoodRX and its management when this inevitably happens again. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14380367 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14380367
- autoexec 4y ago
  I doubt we'll ever know when they use this data inappropriately since there's no way for consumers to know when it's happened and whistleblowers are very rare.
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    If you're a California resident or a EU citizen, file a DSAR? https://www.osano.com/articles/data-subject-access-requests-guide https://www.osano.com/articles/data-subject-access-requests-...
bilbo0s 4y ago
In this case, it's a bit different. Pretty much all of that information is protected by HIPAA. I'm not sure the FTC will be Amazon's primary regulatory concern in this instance. And HIPAA is just the start. The FTC really is the least of your concerns once you start playing in healthcare on a diagnostic level. Full disclosure, I've exited a diagnostic medical imaging software company and have been through the regulatory proctology exams that are 510(k) and HIPAA.
- chimeracoder 4y ago
  > In this case, it's a bit different. Pretty much all of that information is protected by HIPAA. > > I'm not sure the FTC will be Amazon's primary regulatory concern in this instance. And HIPAA is just the start. The FTC really is the least of your concerns once you start playing in healthcare on a diagnostic level. It's been less than 48 hours since the FTC fined another high-profile healt-tech startup for selling patient data to advertisers, including Facebook and Snapchat: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/02/ftc-enforcement-action-bar-goodrx-sharing-consumers-sensitive-health-info-advertising https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/02/... HIPAA provides some very basic protection, but nowhere near what most people think it does, and nowhere near enough.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    A day or two ago, an HN thread had the founder of a company that worked with medical information, explain that HIPAA is actually a bit of a “paper tiger.” It applies in very specific situations, and it can be surprising where it can be circumvented.
    - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
      This was the thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35002882 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35002882

V__ 4y ago

> Companies that fail to abide [...] can violate Section 5 of the FTC Act I'm sure the fine will be a real deterrent. Just like the fines have deterred Amazon to stop their anti-union practices. I wonder if we will ever see some antitrust measures ever again, or if it is just going to be a free for all from now on.

godsfshrmn 4y ago
Just look at GoodRx recently to see how this veiled this threat is
- DaiPlusPlus 4y ago
  I looked it up just now... > GoodRx will be prohibited from sharing user health data with applicable third parties for advertising purposes, and has agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty for violating the rule. Meanwhile, GoodRx's revenue in 2021 was $745 million.
  - jeremyjh 4y ago
    Don’t forget the black mark on their permanent record!
    - amelius 4y ago
      It would be nice if black marks could be easily seen by consumers. For example by forcing the use of a "BM" (black mark) text next to the "TM" symbol in a company's logo.
      - DaiPlusPlus 4y ago
        “Bowel Movement” seems more appropriate
  - jchw 4y ago
    Interesting. So that's like, 0.2% of their gross revenue, about? Meanwhile, if my cursory math isn't screwed up, if your gross annual income is $100,000, 0.2% of your salary is $200. So basically, they got something roughly akin to a speeding ticket.
    - DaiPlusPlus 4y ago
      But consider that when you get a speeding ticket your car insurance goes up and you often end-up paying far more than just the initial infraction fine. And you can be automatically disqualified from driving entirely once you get enough points on your license. So if the fine were even remotely as impactful as a speeding-ticket is to a normal person then GoodRX would have just earned 3 penalty points on their business-license, have substantially higher business indemnity insurance costs, and once they hit enough points and caught doing-business-while-impetuous (DWI) again then the state would seize their business and crush it under a tank[1] and those at the wheel would be behind bars. Somehow I doubt anything remotely close to that will happen to GoodRX and its management when this inevitably happens again. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14380367 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14380367
autoexec 4y ago
I doubt we'll ever know when they use this data inappropriately since there's no way for consumers to know when it's happened and whistleblowers are very rare.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  If you're a California resident or a EU citizen, file a DSAR? https://www.osano.com/articles/data-subject-access-requests-guide https://www.osano.com/articles/data-subject-access-requests-...

bilbo0s 4y ago

In this case, it's a bit different. Pretty much all of that information is protected by HIPAA. I'm not sure the FTC will be Amazon's primary regulatory concern in this instance. And HIPAA is just the start. The FTC really is the least of your concerns once you start playing in healthcare on a diagnostic level. Full disclosure, I've exited a diagnostic medical imaging software company and have been through the regulatory proctology exams that are 510(k) and HIPAA.

chimeracoder 4y ago
> In this case, it's a bit different. Pretty much all of that information is protected by HIPAA. > > I'm not sure the FTC will be Amazon's primary regulatory concern in this instance. And HIPAA is just the start. The FTC really is the least of your concerns once you start playing in healthcare on a diagnostic level. It's been less than 48 hours since the FTC fined another high-profile healt-tech startup for selling patient data to advertisers, including Facebook and Snapchat: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/02/ftc-enforcement-action-bar-goodrx-sharing-consumers-sensitive-health-info-advertising https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/02/... HIPAA provides some very basic protection, but nowhere near what most people think it does, and nowhere near enough.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  A day or two ago, an HN thread had the founder of a company that worked with medical information, explain that HIPAA is actually a bit of a “paper tiger.” It applies in very specific situations, and it can be surprising where it can be circumvented.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    This was the thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35002882 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35002882