Electronic Communications Privacy Act

technology, however, the line begins to blur. The exponential growth of technology within the 21st century alongside the growing threat of terrorism has led the government to conduct surveillance and searches through technology. Laws and acts such as the USA PATRIOT act have granted the government increasingly more freedom to gather information through technology. While the…

Professional boundaries refer to the spaces between the patient’s vulnerability and the nurse’s power. As nurses use social networking sites and electronic forms of communication in health care setting, they can accidently blur the lines between their personal and professional lives. Making a comment about the patient on social networking site can breach the patient privacy and confidentiality, as well as violation of professional boundary (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2014).…

social issue in today’s society. Cyberbullying is “the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature” (“Oxford Dictionary”, n.d). As an attempt to decrease the prevalence of this major social issue Bill C-13 the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act was established on March 10th 2015 (CTV News, 2015). Bill C-13 the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act was created…

HIPAA The purpose of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, (HIPAA) is to secure and protect sensitive patient information. HHS Office of the Secretary (2013) stated, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Public Law 104-191, was enacted on August 21, 1996. Sections 261 through 264 of HIPAA require the Secretary of HHS to publicize standards for the electronic exchange, privacy and security of health information. Collectively these are known as…

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was put into place in 1978 and allows the government to tap into citizen's electronics and monitor them for foreign intelligence information, has changed drastically since the events of 9/11. FISA can now be used to get a warrant to monitor citizens who are not linked to terrorism at all. Though a warrant is needed to monitor, the government has abused their power and used FISA to monitor citizen's electronics without one. The Effects of…

On October 26, 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush signed into law the USA Patriot Act which granted the NSA total, unsupervised access to all fiber optic communications including emails, text messages, phone calls, and social media (John Oliver). The Bush Administration used the powers set in place by the Patriot Act to overrule the FISA Court, or the three judge panel, and directed the NSA to spy directly on al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups making…

its most basic level the Data Protection Act 1998, and the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC which it implements, has provided, until recently, the guidance on the requirements of Data Controllers, in this case owners of websites that use cookies, how to treat claims related to privacy infringements and the consequences in cases where the controller had failed in its duties. The main change to it has come with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 which…

Introduction The transition from hardcopy health records to electronic health records (EHR) creates a need for new protocols to protect patient data. “Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to adopt standards for electronic medical transaction,” these standards are to protect patient health records. The standards three main focuses are; 1) “to protect and enhance the rights of consumers by providing them access…

Many businesses use electronic surveillance to maintain the security of their buildings and grounds, to obtain information about costumers or to help increase the output of work during business hours. Electronic monitoring can serve several purposes. It can increase the amount of work actually being done during work hours, enhance the security for persons and property, and detect and prevent criminal, wrongful, or impermissible…

What are Electronic Medical Records? Electronic Medical Records (EMR) is the term used to describe the electronic storage of patient health information. EMR are used widely in the medical field and help provide personalized and interactive healthcare options for users. Like in many other industries, for decades medical records were all kept in written records. Recently a movement has occurred, moving healthcare away from written records and now to online records. Now, medical records are almost…