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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! It’s pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/opportunity-to-undo-raft-of-surveillance-powers-passed-by-coalition/
Opportunity to ‘undo’ raft of surveillance powers passed by Coalition
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
2 June 2022
The restructuring of the Home Affairs Department by the new Labor government and the ongoing review of surveillance powers offers an opportunity to “undo” many of the privacy-invasive digital-focused laws passed during the Coalition’s time in power, Deakin University senior lecturer Dr Monique Mann says.
Labor this week unveiled its Administrative Arrangements Order, revealing that responsibility for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) from the Department of Home Affairs to the Attorney-General’s Department.
This comes five years after former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull moved the AFP into the new Home Affairs super-portfolio.
The new order “transfers responsibility for criminal justice, law enforcement policy and operations, and protective services from the Home Affairs portfolio to the Attorney-General’s portfolio”.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/sensitive-ndis-health-data-breached-in-client-platform-hack/
Sensitive NDIS health data breached in client platform hack
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
31 May 2022
A “large volume” of highly sensitive health data has been compromised as part of a hack of a cloud-based client management system for NDIS service providers, with a sample posted on a “deep web forum” last week.
CTARS – a cloud-based client management system provider for NDIS, disability services, out of home care and children’s services – revealed this week that an unauthorised third-party had gained access to its systems on 15 May.
The third-party posted a sample of the stolen data around a week later on a “deep web forum”, the company said.
In the statement, CTARS said it is unable to determine what data has been compromised, but it likely includes sensitive health data such as the details of diagnoses, treatments and conditions and disabilities.
“Although we cannot confirm the details of all the data in the time available, to be extra careful we are treating any information held in our database as being compromised. This data includes documents containing personal information relating to our customers and their clients and carers,” the CTARS statement said.
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What are digital platforms doing to tackle misinformation and disinformation?
Alison Barrett Jennifer Doggett
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Twelve months after the launch of The Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation, signatories to the code have provided their transparency reports to peak industry body DIGI.
Highlights from these reports and the ongoing concerns from health groups about the inadequacy of the Code and Australia’s media policy more generally are outlined below by Croakey editor Jennifer Doggett.
Jennifer Doggett writes:
The voluntary Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation aims to provide the public, industry and government different avenues to strengthen tech efforts to combat misinformation.
The Code has so far been adopted by eight signatories – Apple, Adobe, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Redbubble, TikTok and Twitter – which are required to report annually to DIGI on their performance against the terms of the code.
The transparency reports provide insights into the activities being undertaken by these companies to combat misinformation and disinformation, promote accurate information and to improve Australians’ media literacy.
In releasing the reports, DIGI Managing Director Sunita Bose said:
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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/careers/hr-business-partner
APS6 HR Business Partner
APS6
($101,757 - $114,800)
Corporate
Services Division > Human Resources (HR) and People
Brisbane,
Canberra, Sydney
Closing - 13 Jun 2022
Division overview
Corporate services – responsible for bringing together our corporate enabling services so that they are coordinated, effective and mutually reinforcing.
Primary purpose of position
Australian Digital Health Agency operates under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Establishing the Australian Digital Health Agency) Rule 2016 as a corporate Commonwealth entity. The Agency operates in a unique environment engaging both APS and non-APS employees to deliver strategic outcomes. A strong background in the delivery of generalist human resources services is required to provide operational and strategic advice to managers through the interpretation and application of award conditions, APS conditions, employment legislation, government policy and Agency people policies to operate successfully in this environment.
This requires an ability to work in a fast-paced environment to support the evolving priorities of the Agency.
Reporting to the Manager, HR Business Partners, the HR Business Partner will be responsible for providing a HR business partner function for the Agency. This position is responsible for supporting internal business customers with the provision of timely advice and coaching in relation to human resource matters in alignment with the Agency’s objectives across the full spectrum of HR. The role also supports the implementation of organisational processes including the annual performance review cycle, annual remuneration cycle, organisational restructures and/or role changes in alignment with work programme delivery.
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Fake skin to give robots the human touch
· The Times
A new type of artificial skin could give robots “near-human levels” of touch sensitivity.
The electronic skin, developed at the University of Glasgow, draws inspiration from the human nervous system.
Information is partially processed in tiny printed circuits contained in the skin itself, mirroring the way in which tactile sensations are generated at the fingertips. This should make it more sensitive and quicker to react, its inventors say.
Fengyuan Liu, a co-author of the research, said: “This research could be the basis for … building prosthetic limbs which are capable of near-human levels of touch sensitivity.”
The system involves an articulated, human-shaped robot hand coated in a flexible plastic material that contains a network of pressure sensors.
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Online watchdog demands ‘full transparency’ as tech giants act on sexual abuse
June 2, 2022 — 4.41pm
Australia’s online safety watchdog has welcomed moves by the world’s largest technology companies to create a framework for reporting on child sexual abuse material, but questioned whether they truly have the will to tackle the problem properly.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant warned the technology giants she will use new legal powers to demand the companies reveal what systems they are using to check if child sexual abuse is on their platforms and how long it has been online.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age from an anti-abuse summit in Brussels, Inman Grant said a newly unveiled abuse reporting framework from the Tech Coalition, which sets out what kind of information firms should disclose, was a positive step.
“We’ve seen a lot of selective transparency in the past and you can’t have accountability if you don’t have full transparency,” Inman Grant said.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/lockdown-no-barrier-for-elderly-adventurers/
2 June 2022
Lockdown no barrier for elderly adventurers
Aged Care Technology Virtual/Remote Care
With the elderly among the most vulnerable to the virus, facilities were often closed off to visitors and families for extended periods.
But for some residents in Queensland and Victoria, a novel trial using virtual reality (VR) has provided new experiences in which lockdowns have ceased to matter.
The Transforming Aged Care with Virtual Reality project was a collaboration between researchers from the Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University, the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University, and was funded by a philanthropic research grant from Facebook.
And last week the project organisers launched a toolkit they hope would help aged-care facilities across the country integrate VR into the lives of all their residents.
The chief investigator, QUT’s Professor Evonne Miller, told Wild Health the project had been a massive success, with some residents using VR to skydive, visit their childhood home and towns, swim with sharks and dolphins, travel overseas and even take a helicopter ride.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/post-war-health-tech-boom-sees-womens-services-multiply/
2 June 2022
‘Post-war’ health-tech boom sees women’s services multiply
Covid had a serious impact on all health screening, and gaps in women’s routine health care included missed screenings for cervical and breast cancer, treatment of menstrual and menopause symptoms. and tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The United Nations Population Fund reports that by January 2021, the pandemic had disrupted contraceptive use for around 12 million women globally, resulting in around 1.4 million unintended pregnancies.
In response, telehealth services addressing menopause, contraception, fertility and at-home screening have multiplied, according to the 2021 FemTech Collective market report on digital health – which notes that founders and leaders of this new boom in female health-tech have overwhelmingly been women.
But while Frost and Sullivan estimats that the FemTech market will be worth $1.1 billion a year by 2024, the segment represent less than 3 per cent of total digital health investments for 2013-2020.
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2 June 2022
Planting a standards stake into the ground first thing would be a seismic change for good
If you were the new health minister really wanting to do good things and make an early statement of positive change to show intent, you’d put a stake in the ground immediately on digital health standards. Here’s why.
OK, you’re the new health minister and you want everyone to know:
- You know what you’re doing, and
- You mean business.
What’s your first move?
You could send no greater signal of meaningful change to the system, while taking virtually no political risk at all, by getting the Department of Health (DoH) to announce to all our healthcare providers and software vendors, that, as has already done in the US, we have an intention to much more meaningfully share data between providers and patients in the future. And therefore, we are going to require that in five years’ time everyone updates their systems in some way so they can share their patient data easily and securely via the cloud (or the web, if you like).
What is the upside of such a move for the new Labor government?
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/dta-to-move-from-pmc-to-finance-580802
DTA to move from PM&C to Finance
By Justin Hendry on Jun 2, 2022 7:00AM
Returns to its AGIMO roots.
The Digital Transformation Agency will shift to the Department of Finance a year after it was moved from the Social Services portfolio to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed the machinery of government change late on Wednesday, just hours after swearing in his first ministry.
“The Department of Finance will gain responsibility for data policy, including the Digital Transformation Agency, as well as de-regulation,” he said in a statement.
Administrative orders released on Wednesday night provide additional detail on the changes, with “responsibility for data and digital policy and services” to transfer to Finance from July 1, 2022.
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My Health Record for specialist practices
Event details
When
Friday,
17 June 2022
1:00pm - 2:00pm (AEST)
Where
Online
Hosted by
Australian Digital Health
Contact us
General enquiries
Phone: 1300 901 001
8am - 5pm (AEST/AEDT) Monday - Friday
Email: help@digitalhealth.gov.au
Join this webinar to learn about the core features of My Health Record and using your clinical software (Clinic to Cloud, Audit 4, BpVIP.net and others) to view and upload clinical information. The sessions are designed to be interactive where participants are encouraged to ask questions. Following a live demonstration during this webinar, you will understand how to:
- Save time by accessing overview summary documents including medicines, immunisations, pathology and diagnostic imaging reports
- Find documents relevant to your clinical practice e.g. Discharge Summaries
- View the available Medicare information.
- Upload Specialist Letters.
This activity is tailored specifically for Specialists and the their teams.
This activity can be counted for 1 hour of Group-1 CPD (or 1 CPD credit), suitable for inclusion in an individual’s CPD plan.
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31 May 2022
Leveraging the digital era for fitter, healthier, happier children
Overweight and obesity is the second-largest contributor to Australia’s disease burden and health costs, including significantly driving Australia’s high-cost diseases (for example, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers).
It’s estimated to cost the Australian economy $11.8 billion, and if obesity rates continue to increase, will cost Australia an additional $87.7 billion in 10 years’ time.
Australians with obesity are at a higher risk of developing major chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancers, mental health disorders, experiencing social exclusion, and/or lower quality of life.
In Australia, obesity rates have increased the past 10 to 15 years, and remain a historically high proportion of the population. For instance, in Victoria, about two in three adults and one in four children are classified as overweight or obese.
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Digital offspring will replace human babies, says AI expert
By Tom Ough and Maighna Nanu
May 31, 2022 — 8.00am
London: They will cuddle you, play with you and, of course, resemble you. They will require minimal resources and will cost next to nothing to bring up.
But the one catch with these “ideal children” is that they are, in fact, not human, but a virtual creation which an artificial intelligence expert predicts will be commonplace in 50 years.
Catriona Campbell, one of the UK’s leading authorities in AI and emerging and disruptive technologies, made the prediction in a book published this week. In AI by Design: A Plan For Living With Artificial Intelligence, she argues that concerns about overpopulation will prompt society to embrace metaverse-hosted digital babies. It is a demographic transformation she calls the “Tamagotchi Generation”.
“Virtual children may seem like a giant leap from where we are now,” she writes, “but within 50 years technology will have advanced to such an extent that babies... in the metaverse are indistinct from those in the real world.
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Opinion: Health care must bolster privacy, security efforts
By Carol Chris, Regional General Manager for Australia
and New Zealand, GBG
Monday, 30 May, 2022
A recent report from Australian cybersecurity consultancy CyberCX found the healthcare industry ranked second last when it comes to protecting the online privacy of its customers and users.
In an industry that deals with incredibly sensitive and personal information, such as medications, mental health history, and drug and alcohol use, the implications for a lack of privacy within the sector are severe, both at an individual and organisational level.
Privacy threats are growing in the healthcare industry, in both frequency and sophistication. Macquarie Health Corporation was hit by a cyber attack in late 2021 with thousands of patients’ highly sensitive documents leaked by hackers. Just last week Western Australia’s COVID-19 contact tracing system was deemed by the auditor-general to be riddled with privacy and security concerns, putting the personal and medical information of hundreds of thousands of citizens at risk.
During COVID-19, when significantly more medical appointments were both made and conducted online than ever before, the risk for cybercrime also increased as patients divulged personal and medical information via apps and websites. Indeed, in the final few months of 2021, more than 12 million telehealth appointments were conducted via phone and videoconference — representing 25% of all Medicare Benefits healthcare appointments.
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Behind the Australian publication topping Facebook’s most viewed pages
By Nick Bonyhady
May 29, 2022 — 4.45pm
In 2014, Nine screened the last ever season of Australia’s Funniest Home Videos, the show where excruciating but mostly harmless pranks and accidents were caught on camera and sent in by viewers to be screened to the nation.
Axing the show rather than moving it online now looks like a missed opportunity. Just four years later, LadBible launched in Australia from its UK base with basically the same formula. It now tops Facebook’s list of widely viewed pages, with posts and videos boasting 104 million viewers in the US alone during the first quarter of 2022.
LadBible’s formula is easy to describe and hard to execute, given the number of clout-hungry influencers and publications it is up against. It scours the internet for trendy topics and viral clips, accepts submissions of cute, funny or shocking videos, and repackages it all into a constantly tweaked fire hose of “content” that social media algorithms and users seem to love.
One of its most popular recent videos on TikTok (1.1 million views) is of a sulfur-crested cockatoo perched on a side-view mirror, eating a McDonald’s hash brown, as the driver goes for a spin. “Only in Australia” is the caption.
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David.
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