MT: Katz test applies to informational privacy

Montana applies the Katz reasonable expectation of privacy case to informational privacy, here a worker’s comp case. By filing a worker’s comp claim, the claimant did not waive all privacy rights in medical records. Malcomson v. Liberty Northwest, 2014 MT 242, 2014 Mont. LEXIS 506 (September 10, 2014):

[*P29] We made clear in Nelson that Montana’s right of informational privacy, “at a minimum, encompass[es] the sanctity of one’s medical records.” Nelson, 283 Mont. at 242, 941 P.2d at 448. The State’s arguments fail to appreciate that this constitutional right encompasses a “fundamental” right “to control circulation of personal information.” Nelson, 283 Mont. at 241, 941 P.2d at 448 (quoting Cutter v. Brownbridge, 183 Cal. App. 3d 836, 228 Cal. Rptr. 545, 549 (Cal. Ct. App. 1986)). That a worker consents to release of relevant medical information does not mean the worker loses all privacy interests in how that information is circulated or disseminated. The right to control circulation of private information would be lost if the individual does not know what healthcare information is being circulated or to whom.