As I’ve noted before, Marsha Blackburn’s past experience before she got elected to Congress is that she was the PR person for her local mall. It’s probably not good for the soul to laugh at stupid people, but watch this and try not to laugh:
COSTELLO: So what specifically were you referring to on the website that violates, that could possibly violate HIPAA?
BLACKBURN: We are concerned about privacy overall. Data security privacy and of course applying and complying with the HIPAA laws, and…
COSTELLO: But what question specifically asks that would concern you about HIPAA, what medical question does it ask?
BLACKBURN: Carol, HIPAA requires you to — it’s the way you structure your website and the way you transit the information, the transfer rights that are there, and when you look at privacy on these websites, what you have to do is keep all of the application information in one server […]
COSTELLO: I’m trying to understand what kind of information you’re talking about. What kind of information are you talking about? What specifically does the website ask that I might be afraid might shared with whomever? Specifically. What information?
BLACKBURN: You should be very concerned not only as you navigate the website but as you make a purchase, and then as your information is handled, what we want to make certain is that an individual’s medical information their financial information is all going to be kept in a private manner. What we do not want is a peeping Tom who is going to look through their PII, their personal identifying information. they want to make certain the federal government has standards and are applying and abiding by the privacy laws that are on the books and by the HIPAA regulations that every hospital and every doctor abide by. so this is a serious investigation, looking at the entire roll-out and launch of this website, how this data is being used.
By the way: Nice job, Carol Costello!
Do you suppose that Blackburn is as concerned about how the Patriot Act and the NSA violate our privacy rights? Why doesn’t she begin a robust conversation about how undemocratic it is to spy on your neighbors? But alas, she like the 1% media would rather have us debate about how horrible the ACA is. Or how detached Obama is on substantive national and international issues. Or how ‘cool’ the new Pope is. Or how exciting the World Series is. The 1% that Blackburn represents wants its wealth and power to remain intact. So it requires the services of the NSA. What the 1% wants is the 99% to shut up, remain docile, and keep working on the plantation for slave wages. For that to happen they pay the Blackburn’s of this world very well indeed.