My old company in Austin still has my health data from 2018 and won't delete it

I left my job six years ago, but their HR portal still shows my full medical history from a company wellness program. I've sent three certified letters asking them to delete it, and their legal team just says they 'need it for records.' It took me over 40 hours of calls and emails to even get that useless answer. Shouldn't I own my own body's information, especially after I quit?

4 comments

4 Comments

jamieb802mo ago

Actually, legal record keeping usually means payroll and tax stuff, not your personal medical history from a wellness program. That's your private health data. You might want to check with a lawyer who knows HIPAA rules, because after six years that seems excessive. They're probably just being lazy and don't want to deal with removing it from their old system.

drew_mitchell2mo ago

Companies need to keep records for legal reasons, even if you're gone.

nguyen.blake2mo ago

Yeah, the "legal reasons" line is what gets me... I read an article a while back that said companies often use that as a blanket excuse to avoid the work of cleaning up old data. For health info, the rules are way more strict and usually don't require holding onto it for that long after someone leaves. It feels less like careful record keeping and more like digital hoarding.

ward.jamie1mo ago

The last time I left a job I asked them to delete my health screening results before my last day. They told me the same thing about legal requirements. I typed up a short email citing the HHS guidelines on employer wellness programs and their retention limits. I also mentioned that keeping my PHI after termination without a valid business need was a violation of the HIPAA privacy rule. They deleted everything within a week. It worked because I had a specific rule to point to instead of just arguing. You could try finding the exact regulation that applies to your old employer's industry.