Health Law Scan

New York’s Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act, or SHIELD Act, which makes significant changes to the state’s data breach notification requirements, impacts healthcare organizations that hold computerized data with private information from New York residents. In this LawFlash, our privacy and cybersecurity team analyzes the law’s expanded definition of “private information” and offers key business takeaways for assessing compliance with the SHIELD Act, which becomes effective October 23, 2019.

In an opinion with significant implications for the healthcare industry, the US Supreme Court has held that information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner—and that is provided to the government under an assurance of privacy—is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).