Senator Maggie Hassan Co-Sponsors Bill to Extend HIPAA-Style Rules to Wearable Health Data
Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire has co-sponsored the Health Information Privacy Reform Act, a federal bill aimed at bringing wearable health data and consumer health apps under HIPAA-style protections. The Senate HELP Committee unanimously voted 22-0 to advance this bill, which seeks to close the gap between existing federal privacy law and the increasing volume of health data generated by smartwatches, rings, and smartphone applications. Currently, HIPAA protections apply to 'covered entities' like hospitals, but not directly to the data itself when it resides in consumer devices or apps. The proposed legislation would create a new category of 'regulated entities,' including wearable makers, health app developers, data brokers, and cash-pay providers that do not bill insurance, subjecting them to privacy, security, and breach-notification standards at least equivalent to HIPAA's. Individuals would gain rights to privacy notices, access, amendment, deletion, and data portability for their health inf... 
