FTC Proposes Amendments to Strengthen and Modernize the Health Breach Notification Rule

• The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comment on proposed changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR) that include clarifying the rule’s applicability to health apps and other similar technologies.
• Since the rule’s issuance, health apps and other direct-to-consumer health technologies, such as fitness trackers, have become commonplace.
• In September 2021, the FTC issued a policy statement affirming that health apps and connected devices that collect or use consumers’ health information must comply with the Health Breach Notification Rule.
• After reviewing the public comments and consistent with the policy statement, the Commission has proposed the following changes to the HBNR:

The public will have 60 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register to submit comments on the proposed changes to the rule. Information on how to submit a comment can be found in the notice. Once processed, the comments will be posted to Regulations.gov. The Commission voted 3-0 at an open Commission meeting to publish the proposed changes to the HBNR in the Federal Register.