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But health data collected by many wearable devices and health and wellness apps don’t fall under HIPAA’s umbrella, said Suzanne Bernstein, counsel at Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Health information provided to hospitals, doctor’s offices and medical insurance companies is protected from disclosure under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, which established federal standards protecting such information from release without the patient’s consent.

Antiabortion Republicans have also objected to Biden administration rules extending the federal medical privacy law, HIPAA, to cover requests from authorities in antiabortion states for medical information about residents who have sought abortions in states where they’re legal.

About 2,400 years later, the notion that a patient’s medical information should remain private was codified into federal law as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, better known as HIPAA.

Lawmakers in favor of the initiative have said it simply clarifies parents’ existing rights and does not change or supersede existing laws like HIPAA.