The Wired article, "What Doctors Wish You Knew About HIPAA and Data Security," delves into the limitations and misunderstandings surrounding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in safeguarding personal health data. It highlights that HIPAA primarily regulates healthcare entities but does not cover consumer-generated data or information shared outside traditional medical...

The increasing concerns over online privacy, particularly for consumer health data, are being addressed by key agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). However, there remains a significant gap in protecting the privacy of individuals seeking online services for drug use, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, or recovery.