The month of February was not kind to the patient privacy movement. While laws, such as HIPAA, were written to promote the security of protected health information (PHI), the advent and proliferation of electronic communication and data storage have all too often undercut the government's aim to keep patient information private. There were a number of breaches of health records this past month at hospitals, pharmacies and other healthcare organizations across the country, which caused a great deal of consternation in multiple municipalities.