As 2010 ticked into 2011, the man whose company now stands accused of causing a huge variety of societal outrages, was viewed in a very different light.
Those were the days before Facebook stood accused of crimes ranging from the destruction of large parts of the free press, to the mass misappropriation of millions of users' data, proliferation of abusive content, multiple election rigging and the enablement of genocide.
January: Mark Zuckerberg posts a New Year's resolution to "fix" Facebook's failings.
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Voter tracking software changing the face of Australia's federal elections
27 Dec 2018 — 11:00 PM
As voters prepare to cast judgment in the 2018 federal election, the major parties are getting ready to study them using campaign software stacked with personal information and electorate data.
Ahead of
the NSW state election in March and
a likely federal poll in early May, Labor and the Coalition are refining their voter information platforms and election systems. Both sides sent staff and volunteers to the United States for the November mid-term elections as part of their efforts to roll out the latest and best technology.
Labor maintains a vast voter tracker system, known as Campaign Central, while the Coalition has attracted controversy for its use of the Feedback platform, operated by its privately owned-company, Parakeelia.
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Want to build an independent campaign? First step: find 50 supporters
28 December 2018 — 11:45pm
After announcing she would contest Wentworth, a seat so blue ribbon that it has been held by the Liberal Party or its conservative predecessors since Federation, Kerryn Phelps did not know where to start.
"It was unfamiliar territory,” she said. "We didn’t have any kind of campaign infrastructure, we didn’t have a list of volunteers, we didn’t know whether we would be able to raise the funding that we needed. We didn’t even know what kind of budget we would need to run the campaign.
“We were a pop-up campaign - and the reason that I say that was that we really literally did pop-up from nothing.”
Two-term Indi independent Cathy McGowan knew Dr Phelps would be struggling in Wentworth. Ms McGowan called up to offer help from her Indigo Valley farm, 600 kilometres away in Victoria, and was soon on a plane to Sydney. Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie - who has won an election in Mayo twice in the past three years - had done the same, and when she arrived she shared advice and helped Dr Phelps through an early press conference.
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Nova warns listeners of data breach affecting 250,000 Australians
28 December 2018 — 4:50pm
Lachlan Murdoch’s Nova Entertainment has warned more than 250,000 listeners that data collected about them between 2009 and 2011 has been publicly disclosed, including residential addresses and birth dates.
Nova chief executive Cathy O’Connor said in a statement on Thursday that individuals were being notified about the steps they can take, with the disclosed information varying from person to person.
“We are taking all necessary measures to ensure the strength and effectiveness of our cyber security, and there is currently no evidence of any suspicious activity or threats on Nova Entertainment's systems,” Ms O’Connor said.
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Nova Entertainment admits to publicly disclosing listener information
- AAP
- 2:26PM December 28, 2018
Australian media company Nova Entertainment says information it collected from listeners over a two-year period has been “publicly disclosed”. The company says it recently became aware listener information from May 2009 to October 2011 has been leaked and it is in the process of contacting those affected.
“We have notified the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner of this incident, and we are in the process of contacting law enforcement bodies,” CEO Cathy O’Connor said in a statement.
“We will fully and transparently engage with these entities in relation to this incident.” The information disclosed may include names, gender, dates of birth, addresses, emails and phone numbers and user account details such as user names and passwords, which are protected by a security technique, known as ‘hashing’. While passwords are not visible in plain text, there is a risk they can be decrypted, potentially allowing others to gain unauthorised access to online accounts.
Note: As one expert asked – just what was Nova holding personal data from 2009-2011 for. An outrage and violates all sorts of principles and laws I believe.
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Open banking: Consumer data rights a double-edged sword for financial sector
Updated 21 Dec 2018 — 5:14 PM, first published at 20 Dec 2018 — 11:00 PM
Warning: the banking sector is entering a consumer data minefield.
After a year of unprecedented scrutiny by the Hayne inquiry, banks are desperate to ensure the sharing of customer data under the government's "open banking" regime doesn't sow the seeds of the next royal commission.
For banks, using data to ascertain the true financial position of a customer has many benefits. It could help them respond to the Hayne inquiry, which is expected to recommend lending requires more than just estimating income and expenses. Real transaction data can provide the decisive picture.
But there are also dangers. Community expectations on the use of data are amorphous and still developing. And data sharing creates new security and privacy risks, which will be tough for banks to manage.
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Medibank boss diagnoses issues
- 12:00AM December 24, 2018
In his CEO Survey, John Durie asked more than 60 of the biggest names in business five key questions about what’s coming in 2019. Here’s what Medibank’s chief executive Craig Drummond had to say:
What should be the key issues in the next federal election campaign?
All political parties should be focused on ensuring a strong economy and delivering higher real wage and jobs growth. Australia has done well over the past quarter century or so and the country needs to look in a mature and considered way at the reforms necessary to ensure our standard of living continues to rise.
What use are you making of customer and company data and how are you collecting it?
Using analytics and predicative modelling of claims, administrative and publicly available data, Medibank is able to better predict customers with the highest risk of hospitalisation in the next 12 months. Insights enable us to identify Medibank customers who will benefit most from our chronic disease programs, supporting people in managing their own wellbeing and reducing the risk of hospital attendance or admission.
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My Health Record – what you need to know
My Health Record promises better coordinated health care for all Australians – but what about privacy and security concerns?
Stay in or opt out?
Last updated: 15 November 2018
- By the early 2019, electronic health records will be set up for every Australian, including children
- They can be accessed by you, your doctor and other healthcare professionals
- You can opt out until 31 January 2019
- Six million Australians already have a record – some without their knowledge
- Health care experts welcome the new centralised record, but security experts warn of data breaches that can expose sensitive data
By the end of 2018, the federal government will have set up an electronic health record for all your health data – including sensitive issues like mental health treatments and other conditions you may wish to remain private – unless you opt out by 31 January 2019.
Doctors will be able to access your record to assist in their treatment of you, which could be essential in emergency situations. But security experts warn privacy breaches are only a matter of time.
There's been a lot of public discussion since the three month opt-out period started last week. So we've looked into the pros and cons to help you decide if you want in or out.
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Facebook can't fake it any longer
21 Dec 2018 — 11:00 PM
The photograph is horrific. An Indian man in a blood-soaked shirt is standing on a road. Dangling from his hand is a severed head, dripping blood. Staring out from the familiar white and blue frame of a Facebook news feed, the photo's caption says the image is of a Hindu man who beheaded a Muslim politician for raping his sister. It then asks provocatively: "Does the Hindu deserve punishment?"
But something isn't right. The photo is real but the story behind it is completely false, made up in an apparent attempt to stoke religious tensions in a country where such provocations can quickly lead to violence.
In a busy New Delhi newsroom, on the third floor of a weather worn building in the Indian capital's business district, Facebook's fight against lies kicks into gear. Having been flagged by a fact checker freshly hired by Agence France Presse, the photo is put through a reverse image search. Taken six weeks earlier, it actually shows a Hindu man turning himself in to police after murdering another Hindu, who had insulted his mother. Religion had nothing to do with it.
The fact-check is done by Australian journalist Karl Malakunas and his team at Agence France Presse, which has been hired by Facebook. In this instance they limit the damage. The post, which has already been shared hundreds of times across different Facebook groups, including one called "War Against Paid Media", is labelled 'false'.
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How to prevent specific health information being uploaded to My Health Record
Note:
A participating provider is authorised by law to upload health information about an individual to their My Health Record, unless the individual withdraws their consent or the information relates to a prescribed State or Territory law.
To prevent Shared Health Summaries or Event Summaries being uploaded
1. If your patient requests that no Shared Health Summaries or Event Summaries be uploaded to My Health Record by your practice, go to the Consent section (e.g. via patient demographic section).
Tick Consent for My Health Record indicate how the consent was provided, tick Refused and click Save.
Once consent has been refused withdrawn MMEx will not allow access to My Health Record by users from the organisation.
Read about MMEx here:
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WEBINAR - My Health Record: Revolutionising The Way We Consult
How often have you wasted time chasing clinical information about your patients or spending precious minutes in consult paper pushing? The My Health Record is here to ease your load and free up your time to focus on doing what you do best – providing exceptional patient care and delivering positive patient outcomes.
This webinar will provide you with all the information you need to gain the maximum benefit out of My Health Record to enhance shared clinical and patient centred care and integrate the My Health Record system into your business as usual daily practice.
Presentation by: Abby Raupach. Digital Health Implementation Consultant
Abby is a University qualified Accredited Practising Dietitian and has a keen interest in both community and preventative health measures. Abby’s role within the Brisbane South Public Health Network (BSPHN) is related specifically to the the My Health Record Expansion Project. Abby’s main focus as part of the My Health Record team is to build awareness and create meaningful use of the My Health Record amongst Allied Health practitioners within the Brisbane South region.
When: Wednesday 27 March, 2019
Where: Webinar (online)
Time: 7:00pm AEDT* (daylights savings is in effect so please check local times)
Cost: Free for APodA Members | $50 Non Members
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Australia made third highest number of requests for Apple data in the world
In the first half of 2018 Australian authorities made 2,375 requests, more than China, Singapore or the UK
Tue 25 Dec 2018 06.00 AEDT Last modified on Tue 25 Dec 2018 09.41 AEDT
Apple received 2,357 “device requests” from the Australian government and law enforcement in the first half of 2018, the third-highest rate of requests in the world.
The tech company published its twice-yearly transparency report on Friday, which reveals how many times governments asked Apple for data and information about iPhone, iPads, computers and Apple accounts.
Requests can be made for a range of reasons – from helping to find a lost phone, to investigating iTunes gift card fraud. They include subpoenas, court orders, warrants and wiretap orders.
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Apple reveals scale of government requests for users' data
By Laurence Dodds & Olivia Feld
24 December 2018 — 10:01am
National governments demanded access to 163,823 Apple devices in the first half of 2018, according to figures released by the company.
The latest Apple transparency report showed that it received 32,342 requests to access the contents of iPhones, iPads and other gadgets, a 9 per cent increase from the second half of 2017.
The tech giant, which granted 80 per cent of requests worldwide, disclosed the number of devices from which data was provided to governments.
The UK made 572 requests, of which 77 per cent were deemed legitimate, while the biggest applicant was Germany, with 13,704, and the United States, with 4570. Apple did not disclose which government agencies made requests.
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Comments welcome!
David.
