During a Congressional hearing yesterday, Rep. Joe Barton questioned a panel of contractors about commented-out source code in healthcare.gov that tells site users that they have no reasonable expectation of privacy in using the site. Seemingly basing his questioning on this report on The Weekly Standard, Rep. Barton stated that the hidden (commented-out) code was…
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Can states ban abortions at earlier stages?
Lyle Denniston of the amazing SCOTUSblog writes: In a wave of new laws enacted across the country, foes of abortion are pushing a common goal: to ban the termination of pregnancy at earlier stages than the Supreme Court has previously allowed. The first new case seeking to test whether the Court will go along with…
Hong Kong Hospital Authority violated Data Protection Ordinance – Privacy Commissioner
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong has published a report on an investigation into the Hospital Authority’s data security practices. The investigation arose after two incidents in 2012 when a passerby found patient information from two hospitals in the street near the Hospital Authority’s contractor for shredding services. The…
Plaintiffs Bar Hit Hard by Recent CMIA Decision
Paul Paray comments on the recent ruling in California involving statutory damages under the CMIA in the event of a breach: Insurers providing privacy liability coverage were collectively breathing a sigh of relief last week given a decision from the California Court of Appeals. Interpreting the California Medical Information Act (CMIA), the court in Regents of the…
How Healthcare.gov Could Be Hacked
Dana Liebelson reports: With Healthcare.gov plagued by technical difficulties, the Obama administration is bringing in heavyweight coders and private companies like Verizon to fix the federal health exchange, pronto. But web security experts say the Obamacare tech team should add another pressing cyber issue to its to-do list: eliminating a security flaw that could make sensitive user information, including Social Security…
Ca: Windsor obstetrician warns of privacy breach
Dalson Chen reports: A Windsor obstetrician is warning her patients of a possible privacy breach four months after a computer full of sensitive information was stolen from her office. In a public notice that appeared in The Star on Wednesday, Dr. Shobhana Patel said a break-in this summer resulted in the loss of a computer…