Assignment 1: Privacy Complaint to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
Describe the process of submitting a health information privacy complaint to the OCR.
Assignment Requirements
Imagine that you are a sophomore at Premier College. Over the past few months, you have not been well due to increased amounts of academic pressure and found yourself unable to concentrate in class or sleep well at night. You went to the student medical center for evaluation and, after consulting with the staff doctor, you were issued a prescription for the treatment of depression.
A few days later, one of your professors tells you that he too has had to take medicine for depression in the past. You ask him how he knew about your situation, and he replied that all student medical records are available to every instructor and staff member at Premier College. Hearing this, you feel that your privacy rights have been violated.
That afternoon you research privacy rights on the Internet and learn that filing a HIPAA privacy complaint to the OCR had been a tedious process before July 2009. On July 27, 2009, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) delegated to the Director of OCR the authority to administer and enforce the HIPAA Security Rule. This action improved HHS' ability to protect individuals' health information by combining the authority for administration and enforcement of federal standards for health information privacy and security. Those standards are outlined in the HIPAA legislation. With the new regulation, the process of filing a privacy complaint has become simpler and more effective.
Then you research the steps involved with filing a privacy complaint with the OCR (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/index.html), download the Health Information Privacy Complaint form at (http://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/hipcomplaintform.pdf), and complete the form. While working on the form, you realize some sections are critical to your case and must be addressed carefully.
You decide to write about your experience in a paper for your Legal Issues in Information Security class. For this assignment:
1. Identify the early iterations of the HIPAA act and how the law has been modified to facilitate easier access to consumer complaints and enforcement.
2. Describe the overall process of submitting a health information privacy complaint to the OCR.
3. Identify specific sections of the complaint form that need critical attention while completing the form.
4. Analyze a few situations that can occur if the critical sections are not well identified.
5. Draft a brief summary, collating all your findings.
Required Resources
• Access to the Internet
• http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/index.html
• http://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/hipcomplaintform.pdf
Submission Requirements
Format: Microsoft Word
Font: Arial 10-point size, Double-space
Citation Style: Follow your school's preferred style guide
Length: No more than 500 words
Assignment 2: Best Practices in Collecting Digital Evidence
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
- Describe best practices in collecting digital evidence.
Assignment Requirements
You have been working for the DigiFirm Investigation Company for several months. The company has a new initiative to continually improve its processes.
Technology changes quickly. Therefore, companies need to change their procedures frequently to stay abreast of new developments. Organizations such as the National Institute of Justice and the FBI offer up-to-date recommendations on best practices. You will also want to check NIST.
Include the following:
1. Shutting down the computer
2. Collecting volatile data
3. Live analysis
4. Physical analysis
5. Logical analysis
6. Documentation
There is a meeting scheduled for next week to talk about best practices in collecting digital evidence.
For this assignment:
1. Research best practices in collecting digital evidence.
2. Create an electronic presentation for the meeting that highlights your findings.
Required Resources
- Course textbook
- Internet
Submission Requirements
- Write an executive summary detailing the above information (2-3 pages)
- Cite sources in APA format
Self-Assessment Checklist
- I researched best practices in collecting digital evidence.
- I created an electronic presentation that highlights my findings.