EPIC: Beyond HIPAA
CHLP's Amir Sadeghi joins the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) for “Beyond HIPAA: Reimagining How Privacy Laws Apply to Health Data to Maximize Equity in the Digital Age” on Wednesday, January 21 at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET.
During this panel, EPIC Senior Counsel Sara Geoghegan will moderate the virtual discussion panel and will be joined by:
- Amir Sadeghi, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Center for HIV Law & Policy
- Amy O’Hara, Research Professor at the Massive Data Institute at Georgetown University
- Kierra B. Jones, Senior Health Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress
Unregulated technology, mass surveillance, and weak or nonexistent privacy laws have created a health privacy crisis in which our health data is collected and used to profile us, manipulate our behavior, and charge us more for care. Commercial surveillance fuels practices that push people away from care, including criminalization, constant online tracking, unregulated AI, and data breaches. These invasive data practices erode trust in groups that are overpoliced and discourage people from seeking care. Delayed or deferred care worsens health outcomes because health conditions often become more severe when left untreated. Privacy should be baked into health systems and shouldn’t be a luxury.
Panelists will delve into these topics, and more, to discuss how our current legal and technological realities threaten our health privacy and undermine health equity. As new technologies allow for improvements in healthcare provisions and medical research, individuals can be pushed away from care due to a lack of trust, fear, stigmatization, criminalization, and barriers to access. Panelists will discuss the role that data privacy plays in health equity and propose solutions to build a healthier, safer, and more privacy-protective future.
