Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Veterans’ Privacy Act”.
Veterans’ Privacy Act
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the recording of a patient in a facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs without the informed consent of the patient.
Sec. 2 Prohibition of visual recording without informed consent
Section 7331 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
by striking “The Secretary, upon” and inserting “(a) In general.—The Secretary, upon”; and
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(b) Visual recording
“(1) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations establishing procedures to ensure that, except as provided by paragraph (2), any visual recording made by the Secretary of a patient during the course of furnishing care under this title is carried out only with the full and informed consent of the patient or, in appropriate cases, a representative thereof.
“(2) The Secretary may waive the requirement for informed consent under paragraph (1) with respect to the visual recording of a patient if such recording is made—
“(A) pursuant to a determination by a physician or psychologist that such recording is medically necessary;
“(B) pursuant to a warrant or order of a court of competent jurisdiction; or
“(C) in a public setting where a person would not have a reasonable expectation to privacy, such as a waiting room or hallway, and such recording is for general security purposes not particularized to the patient.
“(3) In this subsection, the term visual recording means the recording or transmission of images or video.”