HHS Issues Guidance on Requirements Under HIPAA for Online Tracking Technologies, Addressing Privacy and Security Concerns Related to Health Information

On December 1, 2022, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Bulletin on the obligations of covered entities and business associates (regulated entities) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules (HIPAA Rules) when using online tracking technologies, such as cookies, web beacons and pixels. The Bulletin aims to provide further clarity on when identifiable information collected by such tracking technologies may also constitute protected health information (PHI) as defined and interpreted under the HIPAA Rules. In such instances, the Bulletin instructs that the technology vendor may be seen as providing a service to the regulated entity that would, in light of the use and disclosure of PHI, create a direct or downstream business associate relationship. Accordingly, the Bulletin states that the regulated entities would need to enter into a business associate agreement (BAA) with the vendor of the technology (and the vendor would, in turn, become a regulated entity) and meet other requirements under the HIPAA Rules. The Bulletin provides long-awaited guidance to help regulated entities review their positions and procedures concerning tracking technologies to ensure that the trackers they implement either do not collect PHI or meet the prerequisites outlined in the Bulletin.

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