Legal Question in Technology Law in Minnesota
Message board administrator/moderator responsibility
As a moderator of a public message board dedicated to health care professionals, I am wondering about administrator and moderator responsibility when dealing with a potential HIPPA violation. If a member posts a potential HIPPA violation, are the adminatrators/moderators legally responsible for the content of the post, or only the original poster? Is there administrator/moderator LEGAL responsibility to edit these posts? Are they liable for potential HIPPA violations posted by members of the message board community? Thank you.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Message board administrator/moderator responsibility
My primary impression is that the poster would bear liability for HIPPA violations, since they are defined "providers" under HIPPA, but I would certainly want the TOS to contain language that shields the operators of the board from liability with hold harmless and indemnification language.
This issue would require a review of the board's TOS and HIPPA research as well.
Re: Message board administrator/moderator responsibility
Although I represent physicians, I have not encountered this particular issue, and given the short time we've had HIPPA, I suspect few attorneys have. I would recommend that the matter be researched. At the least, I anticipate that some protective terms be required before people are allowed to post and disclaimer language on the board would be needed.
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