After Dobbs, Democrats roll out health and location data protections

In a landmark moment for health privacy, Democrats in the House of Representatives recently unveiled a new bill titled “Protecting Personal Health Data from Regulatory Abuse Act of 2021.” The bill, sponsored by Representatives Joe Neguse (D-Colorado) and David S. Cicilline (D-Rhode Island) seeks to strengthen personal health data and location data protections.

Under this bill, health care providers and app developers would be required to share minimal information to third-parties when providing services. This would shield sensitive information of patients and health data across mobile applications. The sponsors of the bill has clarified that this would not stop third-parties from requests or data collection. In addition, this bill would restrict medical health data to be used for any marketing or advertisement services.

The bill is named after Dobbs v. Wyeth, a landmark Supreme Court case which concluded that consumers must consent to data sharing and that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the authority to investigate companies that violate consumer privacy. The bill, which is now named after the case, seeks to extend privacy protection in the context of health and location data.

The sponsors of the bill have explained that this will ensure greater consumer privacy and protect personal data, such as medical history and insurance information, from being used for marketing and profit. It would also provide greater assurance with regards to location data being collected by third-party companies for targeted advertisements.

The bill is likely to receive a great amount of support from data privacy groups, consumer advocates and healthcare providers, who have been pushing for stronger protection of consumer data. This legislation follows hot on the heels of the California Consumer Privacy Act, which passed in late 2020, and the federal privacy legislation, which is set to be introduced this year.

The proposed bill has spurred a variety of reactions among stakeholders. Chief amongst those reactions is a strong focus on health data privacy and consumer data protection. This proposed bill could be the first step in a long-term approach towards safeguarding consumer data and enhancing consumer privacy. However, it is not clear as to how the House of Representatives will act on this legislation but it is likely to find support amongst Democrats and consumer advocates alike.