Thursday, March 1, 2007

TIA becomes ADVISE | Free Government Information (FGI) Congress killed the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program in 2003 and several new programs have been reported to take its place. (See Total Information Awareness just changed its name FGI, 2006-02-26.) A forthcoming GAO report looks at the use of the Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE) system. 9:13:23 PM

DHS Proposal for State Driver License Enhancements Posted for Public Comment. DHS Proposal for State Driver License Enhancements Posted for Public Comment. DHS will grant states an extension of the compliance deadline until December 31, 2009. [GT: Security and Privacy] 9:04:53 PM

National ID Card Rules Unveiled. National ID Card Rules Unveiled. The DHS chief reveals how he'll turn state driver's licenses into internal passports. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News: Security Blanket] 7:48:35 PM

DOD, Microsoft sign deal to data mine health records The Defense Department has signed an agreement with Microsoft under which the software vendor will help develop tools and methods for analyzing the department's 9.1 million electronic patient records to find better ways to manage the health of DOD beneficiaries. Under the cooperative research and development agreement, Microsoft will work with the Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center to extract, store and analyze data stored in DOD's Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) electronic health record system. The AHLTA clinical data repository (CDR) is "an untapped goldmine of health information, and the ability to draw upon and efficiently use this data will allow us to unleash the true power of AHLTA," said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs. "This project has the potential to vastly improve our ability to provide both force health protection and population health improvement activities for every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine." Microsoft and the Army center aim to develop a clinical data warehouse (CDW) that provides predefined queries of interest to clinicians and analysts. The warehouse also will support data mining, which uses clustering and pattern recognition techniques to discover previously unknown correlations in the data. Intel and HP are providing support on security, sizing, and scalability testing of the CDW architecture, Microsoft said. Dr. Deborah Peel, chairwoman of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, views the patient information not as a goldmine ripe for exploitation but as a collection of personal and sensitive health information that needs to be zealously guarded and only accessed with express consent by the patient. 7:46:58 PM

U.S. Bill Proposes E-Health Records Incentives. U.S. Bill Proposes E-Health Records Incentives. Doctors would get $3 for every patient signed up to use an electronic health record under terms of a new House bill introduced today. [PC World: Latest Technology News] 7:19:07 PM

DHS Issues REAL ID Regulations; CDT Urges Repeal of Law. DHS Issues REAL ID Regulations; CDT Urges Repeal of Law. The Department of Homeland Security has issued proposed regulations implementing the REAL ID Act, which would require states to adopt tighter standards and create a networked system for driver's license issuance. Given the Act's fundamental flaws, CDT has joined other civil liberties groups in supporting legislation introduced in recent days in the House and Senate to repeal the hastily-enacted 2005 law and return to the driver's license reform process begun by the previous Congress. CDT is especially concerned that the Act would result in the creation of a linked network of government databases of personal information, without standards or limits on access and use. [Center for Democracy and Technology] 7:17:49 PM

© Copyright 2007 Paul Hardwick. Last update: 3/4/07; 3:16:45 AM.