Monday, April 17, 2006

Making and Breaking HDCP Handshakes. Making and Breaking HDCP Handshakes. Cadre writes "Ed Felten describes the handshaking routine used by HDCP and how if any 40 devices conspire together, they can break the security of the system." [Slashdot] 11:04:30 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Data privacy breach affects FHA Fraser Health Authority (FHA) employees have been warned that some of them who used an ultra-confidential counselling service may have had their privacy breached as a result of a theft of a computer. The computer with a disk inside it went missing in March from the Vancouver office of the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) run by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. The disk contained the names, birth dates, contact information and referral reasons for thousands of Lower Mainland health workers who sought help for intensely personal problems. 10:52:18 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

New York City Police Surveillance Subject of National Geographic Special. New York City Police Surveillance Subject of National Geographic Special. National Geographic Channel's "Explorer" examines high-tech surveillance Wednesday April 19th at 9 p.m. EDT [GT: Privacy] 9:59:43 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Stitching Up Health Records: Privacy Compliance Lags The good news about privacy and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is that more than 80 percent of companies involved in health care have technology and processes in place to provide the level of patient-privacy protection required by the 1996 law. The bad news? All were supposed to have done so by April 2003. More bad news? The percentage hasn't changed since last summer, meaning about 20 percent of health care companies are "unable or unwilling to implement federal privacy requirements," according to a twice-yearly survey of health care payers and providers conducted by Phoenix Health Systems and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, or HIMSS. And that's just regarding the rule designed to make sure patient information isn't sent to the wrong people or accessed by people without a right to know. Securing the data so hackers can't force their way in is another category of compliance entirely. Meanwhile, as of April 21, another wave of companies will have the chance to be noncompliant, as the deadline passes for companies with less than $5 million in revenue to meet HIPAA Security standards. 9:57:42 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Data Removal Is a Private Matter, Says County Official. Data Removal Is a Private Matter, Says County Official. Florida's Broward County has made instructions on how to request the removal of sensitive personal information from online records more visible on its Web site. But that's all it can do for now, an official said. [Computerworld Privacy News] 9:55:07 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Leadership Is Needed to Handle Data. Leadership Is Needed to Handle Data. Opinion: Thornton A. May presents a hypothetical situation that demonstrates the difficulties involved in managing personal information. [Computerworld Privacy News] 9:53:28 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

A Documented 'Uh-oh'. A Documented 'Uh-oh'. Editorial: State and county governments facing the enormous task of sifting through millions of online documents to expunge sensitive personal information have only themselves to blame for their costly shortsightedness, writes Don Tennant. [Computerworld Privacy News] 9:51:47 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []

London Free Press - Business Monday - Surveillance tapes can be used in court TORONTO -- It's official: the federal privacy law does not prevent insurance companies or others from using surveillance videotape against opponents in court. A recent ruling by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada clarified that restrictions under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act -- PIPEDA to the lawyers who work with it -- "do not prevent a litigant from conducting relevant surveillance on an opposing party in a lawsuit," says law firm Ogilvy Renault. 9:50:03 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []