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FTC Announces Guidance Tool for Health-Related Mobile App Developers
Practical Law Legal Update w-001-8442 (Approx. 4 pages)
FTC Announces Guidance Tool for Health-Related Mobile App Developers
by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
| Published on 07 Apr 2016 • USA (National/Federal) |
The FTC has created a new web-based tool to help developers of health-related mobile apps to understand what federal laws and regulations could apply to their apps.
On April 5, 2016, the FTC announced that it had created a new web-based tool to help developers of health-related mobile apps to understand what federal laws and regulations could apply to their apps. The FTC developed this tool with the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Office for Civil Rights, and the FDA.
The tool provides guidance by:
- Asking developers a series of high-level questions regarding the app, including:
- the app's function;
- the data it collects; and
- the services it provides its users.
- Based on the developer's answers, pointing out federal laws that might apply, including:
- FTC Act;
- FTC's Health Breach Notification Rule;
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); and
- Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FD&C Act).
- Linking the app developer to relevant agency's information for the applicable laws, including newly released FTC Act compliance best practices tailored for health app developers.
The tool is available at the FTC's website.