Considering Tort Liability for Breaches to Privacy of Patient Data-- Managing Risks of Applicability of Privacy Torts, and Especially the Tort of "Intrusion on Seclusion" in the Health Context.

Abstract

The mobile revolution is a watershed event across many fields, including health care. Now, electronic data storage, digital photography, smart phones and tablet devices present new opportunities for educators, researchers, and health care providers. Mobile technologies allow for new possibilities for physician collaboration as well as patient diagnosis, treatment and study. However, while it presents new opportunities, the mobile technological revolution in health care has brought about new risks to patient privacy. These risks to patients, in turn, translate into exposure to liability on the part of health care providers including physicians, allied health care professionals and institutions. This paper reviews recent developments in the legal landscape providing new forms of civil liability for breaches of privacy and discusses how risks of liability under those developing civil causes of action can be managed by health care providers, while they at the same time harness the potential of the mobile technological tide.