Should Privacy Law Make Apple, Fitbit Give You Your Health Data?

Health data collected from an Apple Watch or a Fitbit could be subject to the same patient access requirements as a medical record if two leading health IT groups get their way on an ambitious policy proposal.

The proposed change is part of a larger recommendation by the trade groups to modernize of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the 1996 law that makes it easier for patients to move their medical records to a new provider or insurer and protect their privacy.

Lawmakers wrote HIPAA when the health system was largely paper-based, and since then most doctors and ...