In recent years, the Fourth Amendment has struggled to protect individuals’ privacy rights when it comes to information shared with third parties. Bills have been introduced to add Fourth Amendment protections to cell location data gathered by phone apps. However, both the government and private companies have largely been willing to hand over sensitive medical data to law enforcement without requiring a warrant, according to a congressional investigation. While the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) does not prevent the release of medical information to law enforcement agencies, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could potentially strengthen HIPAA regulations to align them more closely with privacy expectations and Constitutional principles. The HHS has been urged to require a warrant for accessing patient medical records and to encourage pharmacies to insist on one. The hope is that, similar to tech companies protecting customer privacy, pharmacies will change their policies to prioritize privacy even without a change in law. Some companies, like CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, and Amazon, have made promises to be more transparent about government requests for data. Overall, it is argued that the government should not assume that the Third Party Doctrine gives them unfettered access to customers’ prescription records, and changes must be made to protect individuals’ privacy rights.
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/28/every-major-pharmacy-chain-is-giving-the-government-warrantless-access-to-medical-records/