Peter A Clarke

Start-ups want to help hospitals harness big data sets out clearly the benefits but also the danger of health providers using the vast amount of medical data for data mining.  The tenor of the article stresses that the data can be better organised and considered to assist in treatment.  The concern is that the start ups who would use and analyse the data could misuse the material in particular in sharing any material.  The United States privacy controls are quite weak.

It provides:

As the healthcare industry wakes up and smells the potential of big data, hospitals are experimenting with ways to harness it–and two new start-ups want to help them do so.

Charité University of Medicine Berlin, Europe’s largest university hospital, is using increasingly large stores of complex information not only to improve quality and aid clinicians and researchers but also Read the rest of this entry »

DLA Piper has provided a a World Handbook on Data Protection Laws of the World.  It is found here.

The coverage on the statutory framework in Australia is quite good but necessarily brief.

Health Records are particularly sensitive documents.  They store highly sensitive information which are regarded as deeply private even to those who have a robust approach to privacy protections.  The other characteristic of health records are that they are accessible to a whole range of individuals, particularly hospital records.  Doctors, nurses and  administrators all have some need to view a patient’s record, or at least part of it.  Then therre are orderlies, students, security staff and cleaners who could get access to records in hard copy form without too much difficulty. There is potentially a larger group again who can get to them electronically.  This makes for a heightened need for data security.  In Victoria this has been recognised with the enactment of the Health Records Act.

Law firms see big money in healthcare breach cases is an interesting article highlighting the exposure of US health care providers to data breaches.  It provides:

In California, where a unique state law provides for damages of $1,000 per person per violation of the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act of 1981 (CMIA), plaintiff law firms are lining up to file privacy data breach class-action lawsuits against hospitals, medical service providers and health insurers that, if successful, could easily yield payouts in the multiple millions.

The San Francisco-based legal publication The Recorder reported April 6 that at least a half-dozen plaintiff firms had filed complaints for privacy breaches so far, seeing it as a lucrative new source of income.

Brian Kabateck of the Los Angeles plaintiffs firm Kabateck Brown Kellner told The Recorder, “There’s an awful lot at stake here.”

Indeed, a suit pending Read the rest of this entry »

The New Zealand Government has provided a response to the New Zealand Law Commission’s report on amendments to the Privacy Act 1993. It is found here:

In overview the Government response is found (absent footnotes):

A new Privacy Act

The Law Commission recommends that a new Privacy Act, to replace the Act, be enacted.  The Law Commission also recommends that the new Act retain a principles-based approach to regulating privacy.  The Government agrees with these recommendations.

A new Privacy Act will Read the rest of this entry »

The Sydney Morning Herald has a very interesting article titled Email snooping IT admins like ‘Dracula in charge of the blood bank’.

It provides:

About 40 per cent of IT administrators go snooping Read the rest of this entry »

The Information Commissioner has released a resource paper regarding Internal Review for agencies considering a Freedom of Information review.  It is found here.

It is a useful recap of the relevant law and what the Commissioner correctly regards as good practice.

Recent articles in the Economist,Spies, lies and the internet, and Read the rest of this entry »

The Economist has a published a fantastic article titled I spy, with my big eye on CCTV and facial recognition technology and the ever present associated privacy issues.

It provides:

WELCOME to China, the land of video surveillance. Guangdong province boasts over 1m cameras. In 2010 the city of Chongqing, governed by the now-disgraced Bo Xilai, ordered 500,000. Other provinces have hundreds of thousands, according to Human Rights in China, an NGO. Video surveillance constitutes over half the country’s huge security industry, and is expected to reach 500 billion yuan ($79 billion) in 2015. China will soon overtake Britain, with around 3m cameras, as the capital of video surveillance.

Yet China is far from alone. In many democracies surveillance cameras are multiplying, too. And face-recognition technology is proving a wonder tool for both governments and marketers.

A jail in Alabama uses it to Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner has released media statement announcing that the New Zealand Government will update the Privacy Act.

The press release provides:

“Things have changed enormously since the Privacy Act was passed nearly twenty years ago,” said Ms Shroff. “Privacy is as important to people as it’s ever been. But the Act doesn’t always give people the protection they expect and need, particularly in the context of modern technology. And it needs to do more to support businesses.

“The need for reform is urgent. We Read the rest of this entry »

Today the Attorney General announced a reference to the ALRC for an inquiryt into the operation of copyright exceptions for public comment. The draft terms of reference are found here. The submissions close on 27 April 2012.

The press release provides:

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the ALRC will consider whether the exceptions in the Federal Copyright Act are adequate and appropriate in the digital environment.

The draft terms of reference reflect the fact that technology is constantly evolving and testing the boundaries of copyright law    Ms Roxon said.

In our fast changing, technologically driven world, it important to ensure our copyright laws are keeping pace with change and able to respond to future challenges.

We want to ensure this review Read the rest of this entry »