How did you know that about me?

Sven Peterson (sven.peterson@premera.com) is Vice President of Compliance, Ethics and Regulatory Services | Corporate Compliance and Ethics Officer at Premera. Rose Riojas (rosa.riojas@premera.com) is Ethics Program Manager at Premera. The views expressed herein are theirs alone and are not intended to represent those of Premera.

Marie’s phone buzzed as she was getting ready for work. It was a text message from a number she didn’t recognize. Figuring it was a work colleague, she opened the text. To her surprise, it was a message inviting her to join group therapy sessions at a new studio located only a few blocks away. The message explained that based upon her recent healthcare experiences and purchases, Marie would likely benefit from addressing unresolved mental health issues before they became pressing. Furthermore, the new studio was covered by Marie’s health insurance.

Marie was stunned. She wondered who was behind the outreach to her and how they had obtained her information. What did they know about her medical history? Wasn’t that supposed to be protected information? Did they know her purchasing habits? The whole situation was creepy. She decided to reach out to her state’s attorney general’s office. She also posted on social media and reached out to her local television station.

While this example is fictional, it is inspired by true events, and it raises numerous ethical, reputational, and legal/regulatory issues. As a starting point, Marie is of course correct that there are many protections in place regarding personal data and privacy, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regarding certain healthcare data, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act regarding certain financial data, and other federal and state laws and case law.

But the law in this area is changing and is often unclear, with policy-makers racing to catch up with technological developments. In the meantime, companies need to consider what the right thing to do is from an ethical perspective, and how their actions will be considered by stakeholders such as customers, citizens, the press, legislators, regulators, and their own employees—all of whom may have differing and sometimes conflicting views. The absence of clear legal standards and widely accepted social norms makes it much more difficult for companies to navigate this terrain.

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