Florence Olsen writes on FCW: Federal agencies increasingly rely on information from commercial data brokers to detect and investigate fraud, verify people’s identities and determine eligibility for benefits. However, agencies often do not exercise the same privacy precautions with that data as they do with information they collect themselves, and some lawmakers and privacy advocates…
"Privacy and Security: Lessons from Non-Health Sectors"
This presentation by Peter Swire at the 15th National HIPAA Summit is available online for free viewing. Also available on the site is a presentation by Linda Sanches, “Enforcement and Policy Challenges in Health Information Privacy.” Presentations from the 14th National HIPAA Summit are listed on the Resources page of this site.
CA: Consumer groups and advocates oppose SB 1096
From a press release issued today: Jerry Flanagan, Health Care Policy Director, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights will speak out against proposed legislation that would create a loophole in existing law which bars the sharing of private medical information without a patient’s consent. The bill, SB 1096 (Calderon), does so by deeming what amounts…
NZ: Fears for privacy prevented Hasil alert
Ruth Hill of The Dominion Post reports: Concerns about the privacy of women seeking abortions stopped clinicians alerting authorities to botched sterilisations at Wanganui Hospital, MPs have been told. Whanganui District Health Board chief executive Memo Musa told Parliament’s health select committee yesterday that the board had not followed proper procedures when appointing Czech-trained surgeon…
Hacking Medical Devices (update 1)
Bruce Schneier writes about recent news stories concerning hacking medical devices: Okay, so this could be big news: But a team of computer security researchers plans to report Wednesday that it had been able to gain wireless access to a combination heart defibrillator and pacemaker.They were able to reprogram it to shut down and to…
Aetna to offer wealth of health data online
Victoria Colliver writes in the San Francisco Chronicle: Aetna Inc. is offering its members a new online search tool that connects to easy-to-understand articles, local doctors who specialize in their needs, as well as cost information based on their personal health record and benefits. The service is a result of a partnership with Healthline Networks,…