New York State Department of Health
New York
Early Intervention System (NYEIS) Electronic Mailing List
The Use of
E-mail to Transmit Child Identifying Information
Dear
Colleague:
The purpose of
this e-mail is to serve as a reminder that New York State Department of
Health standards must be followed to ensure that confidentiality is
maintained when sending personally identifiable information via e-mail or
e-mail attachments. The use of email to transmit child identifying information
is inherently unsecure and does not meet federally required FERPA regulations.
To ensure the confidentiality of children and families in the EIP, please
do not send personally identifiable information via email or email
attachments in the future unless you are using password protection, encryption,
firewalls, or some other equally appropriate security measure. An
exception to the use of encryption if e-mail is to be used to exchange
personally identifiable information would be if a parent signs a specific
informed consent which clearly outlines the inherent dangers of using
unencrypted e-mail. The parent must be aware of, and consent to, the use
of unencrypted e-mail and the consent form must clearly identify the dangers of
e-mail communication. The parent must also be aware of the persons with whom
e-mail communications are taking place (including their e-mail addresses), and
be informed of the information which is being communicated via e-mail.
Child specific
identifiable information includes a list of personal characteristics or other
information that would make it possible to identify the child, the parent or
other family members with reasonable certainty. In addition to obvious
identifiers such as name, address, parent name, the combination of facts presented
in the e-mail (e.g., initials, family composition, unique diagnosis, heritage,
neighborhood, etc.) should not be able to identify a particular family or
child. We recommend, when it is necessary to send information about a
child through e-mail, to utilize their NYEIS child reference number to identify
the child. Another option available for sending personal information
about a child, is to use the secure file transfer via accessing your Health
Commerce System (HCS) account.
You may refer
to the information provided in Memorandum 2003-1 Guidance on Early
Intervention Program Records available on the Bureau's webpage at: http://www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early_intervention/memo03-1.htm