NY Governor Hochul under pressure to sign bill shielding health care data

(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is being pressured to drop her opposition to a bill that would set limits on personal health care information that big tech companies can collect and sell to third parties.

In a letter to Hochul, more than 150 civil rights and advocacy groups called on the Democratic governor to take steps to improve cyberspace privacy by signing the New York Health Information Privacy Act into law. It's one of several major bills from the previous legislative session still pending action by the governor. Hochul vetoed a similar proposal last year.

The advocacy groups, led by the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties, said the legislation "will give New Yorkers the power to use technology that tracks and maintains their health and to search for and access health care without any outside entities tracking, sharing, or profiting off the information without their consent."

"While today’s technology offers many opportunities, too frequently, the companies that make these products harm communities by wantonly sharing and monetizing our information with only their bottom line in mind and without any limiting force – this has serious real-world consequences for your constituents," they wrote.

The advocates claimed that the companies "fight tooth and nail against sensible regulations that would create baseline protections for everyday people" and said the legislation will shield personal healthcare information from being used by third parties.

"Their abuses should not be the price of participating in today’s society," they wrote. "We need leadership to set reasonable limits."

The New York Health Information Privacy Act calls for extending the state's existing protections for personal health information beyond the scope of federal HIPAA regulations.

The legislation would make it illegal to sell an individual’s health information without their consent and restrict the "processing" of health data by third party companies. Violators would face hefty fines.

Hochul vetoed a similar proposal last December after pushback from business groups, high-tech companies, and healthcare coalitions over its broad definitions and strict compliance requirements.

Democratic lawmakers who pushed the revised plan through the state Legislature earlier this year after amending it to address the governor's concerns.

In the letter, the coalition said passage of the restrictions is needed to protect New Yorkers' data privacy amid increasing threats to reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights.

“No New Yorker should have to fear that their most personal health information could be sold or used against them simply for seeking care,” Robin Chappelle Golston, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, said in a statement. "At a time when reproductive freedom and gender-affirming care are under attack, safeguarding health data is more urgent than ever."