Scott L. Vernick was interviewed in the HealthIT Security article, "Law Firm iOS App Aggregates Federal, State Breach Statutes." Full text can be found in the January 22, 2014, issue, but a synopsis is noted below.
Fox Rothschild has released Data Breach 411, a free iPhone app designed to help guide organizations affected by a data breach through the various state notification laws.
"When you help a client respond to a data breach, whether you're talking about PHI or consumer data such as credit card or Social Security information, it's obviously stressful because it never happens at a convenient time," said Scott L. Vernick, a noted privacy attorney and partner at Fox, who spearheaded the development of the app."You're trying to get your arms around what happened and what information was compromised, as well as feeling the pressure to notify the public of the breach quickly and transparently."
"There are timing, notification and threshold differences as well as various nuances for each state," Vernick said. "Of course, if you're reporting under the HITECH amendment and HIPAA, there are other nuances that come into play."
The new HIPAA regulations have had an impact on how clients handle breaches as well, says Vernick."[The HIPAA Omnibus Rule] has some very real-world implications for [breach] reporting, as the regulations are very specific about when and how organizations need to report a breach to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR)."
Vernick also noted that it will be interesting to see the potential jurisdiction battle between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regarding the LabMD case. "It's more about health information than about consumer information, but the FTC has taken a lead role in that case," he said.
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