Privacy Law Commons^™

Mental Health Mobile Apps And The Need To Update Federal Regulations To Protect Users, Kewa Jiang

Michigan Technology Law Review

With greater societal emphasis on the need for better mental health services coupled with COVID-19 limits, mental health mobile applications have significantly risen in variety, availability, and accessibility. As more consumers use mental health mobile applications, more data is generated and collected by mobile application companies. However, consumers may have the false assumption that the data collected is protected under HIPAA or have an expectation of privacy protection higher than current regulations afford. This Note examines HIPAA, Health Breach Notification Rule, and section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, as well as how these regulations fall short of protecting …

Individuals As Gatekeepers Against Data Misuse, Ying Hu

Michigan Technology Law Review

This article makes a case for treating individual data subjects as gatekeepers against misuse of personal data. Imposing gatekeeper responsibility on individuals is most useful where (a) the primary wrongdoers engage in data misuse intentionally or recklessly; (b) misuse of personal data is likely to lead to serious harm; and (c) one or more individuals are able to detect and prevent data misuse at a reasonable cost.

As gatekeepers, individuals should have a legal duty to take reasonable measures to prevent data misuse where they are aware of facts indicating that the person seeking personal data from them is highly …

Exploring Lawful Hacking As A Possible Answer To The "Going Dark" Debate, Carlos Liguori

Michigan Technology Law Review

The debate on government access to encrypted data, popularly known as the “going dark” debate, has intensified over the years. On the one hand, law enforcement authorities have been pushing for mandatory exceptional access mechanisms on encryption systems in order to enable criminal investigations of both data in transit and at rest. On the other hand, both technical and industry experts argue that this solution compromises the security of encrypted systems and, thus, the privacy of their users. Some claim that other means of investigation could provide the information authorities seek without weakening encryption, with lawful hacking being one of …

Healthy Data Protection, Lothar Determann

Michigan Technology Law Review

Modern medicine is evolving at a tremendous speed. On a daily basis, we learn about new treatments, drugs, medical devices, and diagnoses. Both established technology companies and start-ups focus on health-related products and services in competition with traditional healthcare businesses. Telemedicine and electronic health records have the potential to improve the effectiveness of treatments significantly. Progress in the medical field depends above all on data, specifically health information. Physicians, researchers, and developers need health information to help patients by improving diagnoses, customizing treatments and finding new cures.

Yet law and policymakers are currently more focused on the fact that health …

Privacy Preserving Social Norm Nudges, Yifat Nahmias

Michigan Technology Law Review

Nudges comprise a key component of the regulatory toolbox. Both the public and private sectors use nudges extensively in various domains, ranging from environmental regulation to health, food and financial regulation. This article focuses on a particular type of nudge: social norm nudges. It discusses, for the first time, the privacy risks of such nudges. Social norm nudges induce behavioral change by capitalizing on people’s desire to fit in with others, on their predisposition to social conformity, and on their susceptibility to the way information is framed. In order to design effective social norm nudges, personal information about individuals and …