Confidentiality laws protect personal privacy in the state of New York.
The right to privacy is an important legal issue because some information held by organizations, such as employers and the municipal, state and federal government, can have social and financial effects on people if the information became public knowledge. In the state of New York, confidentiality laws prevent certain types of information, such as health and genetic information or Social Security numbers, from being made public.
Social Security Numbers
New York General Business Law 399-dd prevents any business organization from revealing any Social Security numbers. Section 2(a) specifically states that organizations must not communicate or make public the Social Security number of any individual. It is illegal to print Social Security numbers on cards or identity tags needed by individuals to access a company's products and services, and firms cannot ask individuals to send their Social Security numbers across the Internet. Businesses cannot ask individuals to use their Social Security numbers for website access unless the website requires the use of a password or other form of identification to access the website.
Section 3 of the law states that the collection of Social Security numbers, when this is required by state law or federal law, is allowed, and the use of Social Security numbers for the purpose of investigating fraud is also permitted.
Records of Genetic Tests
Genetic testing of a person's DNA is sometimes done for medical reasons--for example, when a person comes from a family with a history of an inherited disease, such as sickle cell anemia. New York Civil Rights law Article 7 Section 79.2 states that it is unlawful to perform any genetic test on a sample taken from an individual without the written consent of that person. Written consent must include information detailing the nature of the test and the reason for performing the test. Section 79.3 specifically states that the results of all genetic tests must remain confidential unless written consent is given by the subject of the test. This section of the law also states that the results of a genetic test cannot be communicated to a genetic relative of the tested person.
Records in Multistate Information System
Records of psychiatric patients from New York and other states are held at the Rockland State Hospital in Rockland County. Article 79-j(2) states that even though some of the records held relate to patients from facilities outside the state of New York, all records in this multistate information system must remain confidential. This grants the same rights of confidentiality to patients from outside the state as the rights granted to New York residents. The law goes on to state that the records held in the multistate information system cannot be subject to a court subpoena. Only the organization that submitted the information may have access to the information. If statistics are derived from the information held in the information system, this can only be done in ways that do not identify individual patients.
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