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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 are still dated 6 December, 2018! How pathetic is that for transparency? Secrecy unconstrained!
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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AI on my device, not in the cloud
Who said the following? "Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them".
Was it Alan Turing, the father of computer science and artificial intelligence? No.
Surely then it was author Isaac Asimov who devised the Three Laws of Robotics designed to prevent robots harming humans? No.
It was none other than Star Trek’s Mr Spock, the half-Vulcan, half-human Science Officer and second in command of the Starship Enterprise.
You may recall that the Enterprise’s mission was ably supported by phasers, tractor beams, tricorders, and an on-board computer – capable of answering all the Enterprise’s queries.
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Steven Issa, Chief Digital Officer at Australian Digital Health Agency
Steven Issa is the Chief Digital Officer at the Australian Digital Health Agency. Steven is responsible for reviewing international experience and trends and local innovation to help set the national digital health agenda for the Australian health sector. He is an experienced senior executive and has worked in a variety of public and private sector environments including being a lecturer at the University of Sydney prior to joining the Agency.
Ccentric is a market-leading executive search firm in Australia with an exclusive focus on healthcare, academic healthcare, digital health, and not-for-profit and human services – industries that improve the quality of life. Ccentric has four division including Ccentric Executive Search, CcSelection, CcInterim and CcLeadership which allow Ccentric to assist clients with their needs ranging from mid-level leadership to c-suite executive search, interim management, leadership assessment and succession planning.
To keep up-to-date with the latest news from Ccentric subscribe here today
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Microsoft alarmed by secrecy provisions in CLOUD Act-readying bill
By Justin Hendry on May 8, 2020 12:08PM
Wants "blanket" ban on disclosure axed.
Microsoft has called on the federal government to remove secrecy provisions in its proposed reciprocal data access regime for law enforcement agencies that would prevent service providers from notifying their customers of data access requests.
The company also wants separate rules for service providers that serve business and government enterprises to ensure that investigators seek data directly from the customer.
In a submission [pdf] to the parliamentary joint committee reviewing the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Production Orders) Bill, Microsoft said the complete ban on disclosure meant citizens would never know if a data request took place.
“The proposed bill imposes a blanket prohibition on service providers notifying their customers of an international production order (IPO) targeting their data and does not require the government to ever notify the target of surveillance that their data has been examined,” it said.
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Privacy Professionals download COVIDSafe App
A number of legal professionals, with significant experience in the field of privacy law, have signed an open letter to encourage individuals to download the Commonwealth Government’s COVIDSafe App.
Among the privacy lawyers are members of K&L Gates own Australian privacy team (and the authors of this blog post) Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham, Warwick Andersen, Michelle Aggromito and Allison Wallace.
The open letter is signed by members in their personal capacity, and signals that people who care about privacy a lot can still think that supporting the health and economic objectives of the App is more important at this time.
As at the date of this post, more than 5 million people have downloaded the App, with more needed to reach the Commonwealth Government’s target of 40% of the Australian population.
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My Health Record
ADHA Propaganda
My Health Record is a secure online summary of an individual’s key health information.
When you have a My Health Record, your health information can be viewed securely online, from anywhere, at any time – even if you move or travel interstate. You can access your health information from any computer or device that’s connected to the internet.
Record content can include a shared health summary, test results, hospital discharge summaries, prescribed medications, Medicare and PBS information and immunisation history.
Individuals will also be able to upload notes about themselves, including information about allergies or current medications and advance care plans.
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Here To Stay: COVID-19 Kickstarts Telehealth In Oz
By Elise Reid| 6 May 2020
With people being asked to stay at home as much as possible, the COVID-19 pandemic has kick-started Australia’s telehealth industry. Now, many in the industry are expecting telehealth GP consultations to remain popular post-COVID-19, which would result in a boom in digital health products for home monitoring.
“I believe that phone consultations will ease much anxiety for many. It enables GPs to triage over the phone, only seeing patients at the practice where there is a clinical need and it is safe to do so,” said Prashant Menon, the Managing Director of Qualitas Health, which has 31 medical centres across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
The federal government has temporarily allowed health professionals to provide telehealth services. Initially, these services had to be bulk billed but as of 20th April health providers do not have to bulk bill these items.
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Electronic Prescribing update – webinar for GPs and practice managers
May 12 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm ADHA Propaganda
Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (EMPHN) invites GPs and practice managers to an interactive session on electronic prescribing.
Electronic prescribing will improve medicines safety and provide new options and convenience for patients.
Learning outcomes
This webinar is designed to provide an overview of electronic prescribing (EP) and what general practices will require to generate electronic prescriptions.
Learning outcomes
This webinar is designed to provide an overview of electronic prescribing (EP) and what general practices will require to generate electronic prescriptions.
- Two models of electronic prescribing
- What features will be available in the short term
- Who can participate in EP
- How to prepare your general practice for EP
- Q & A.
Presenters
Dr Laila Tabassum – Australian Digital Health Agency – Provider Adoption Lead, Partnerships and clinical use.
Marwa Osman – Australian Digital Health Agency – Provider Adoption Lead, Partnerships and clinical use.
Dr Laila Tabassum – Australian Digital Health Agency – Provider Adoption Lead, Partnerships and clinical use.
Marwa Osman – Australian Digital Health Agency – Provider Adoption Lead, Partnerships and clinical use.
Register here.
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Australia’s COVID healthcare opportunity
We often unearth our biggest innovations in times of tribulation. The Great Depression gave us mass refrigeration, the jet engine found its footing in the dying days of World War II, while we might never have had Google if it weren’t for the dotcom crash at the turn of the millennium. In each case, the underlying technology and ingenuity previously existed but it took a massive economic or societal change to promote widespread adoption.
So it should come as no surprise that as the COVID-19 pandemic grips the world, healthcare has been propelled into new territories. Technologies like telehealth, innovative pathology and data-driven approaches to trials and treatments all existed prior to outbreak. Yet major economic changes have forced a change in thinking at all levels, and led to mass and even government-backed adoption of technologies that will no doubt change the face of healthcare forever.
Adapting and innovating has never been so important in helping to fight the pandemic and create better outcomes for all.
What these innovations and governments alike face is a core question: how to balance adoption with the necessary regulations put in place to ensure safety and prevent the wrong technology from coming to market. This balance is crucial: too much regulation could stifle crucial innovations, while too little could have dangerous outcomes.
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There are some mistruths about the COVIDSafe app that need clearing up
Dr Kemp (PhD) is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, UNSW, Sydney.
7th May 2020
The Australian Federal Government will need to correct earlier misstatements and improve privacy protections to gain the trust of the millions of Australians being called on to download the COVIDSafe contact tracing app.
The draft Privacy Amendment (Public Health Contact Information) Bill 2020, or the COVIDSafe bill, released on Tuesday, is the first step towards parliamentary legislation providing privacy protections for users of the app.
The COVIDSafe bill includes some significant improvements on the protections offered by Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt’s current determination under the Biosecurity Act, which put rules in place to encourage uptake of the app.
However, the bill falls short on other substantial concerns.
Improvements incorporated in the bill
The COVIDSafe bill includes several amendments to the privacy protections originally set out in the determination, which the legislation is intended to replace.
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Early warning system could result from Cedar Meats virus cluster
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.
By Aisha Dow
May 6, 2020 — 6.00pm
Doctors could receive early warnings about suspected coronavirus outbreaks after it was revealed authorities missed a chance to catch the beginnings of the Cedar Meats cluster.
The first COVID-19 infection in a worker at the Brooklyn abattoir was detected more than a month ago but the meatworks wasn’t deemed an exposure site because the worker said he had not been at the facility for “weeks” before he was symptomatic.
“We can only go on what we’re told,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said on Wednesday, while admitting he wasn’t aware if the meat processing company was asked about the worker’s attendance.
Dr Sutton said clusters and outbreaks could still be expected “for some time to come” but the important thing was that Victoria continued to see a trend towards fewer coronavirus cases in the community.
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Half-baked: The COVIDSafe app is not fit for purpose on iPhones
By Ben Grubb
May 7, 2020 — 11.41am
The COVIDSafe app doesn't work on iPhones in the way it was sold to Australians - at least not yet.
Are tech experts surprised? Not in the slightest. After all, there were always going to be issues in overcoming restrictions with Apple's privacy-first operating system for smartphones.
What remains questionable, however, is why politicians chose to not communicate these issues clearly with Australians, leaving it to those who know better to point out flaws in the app's design.
Since its launch on April 26, it's been revealed the almost $2 million COVIDSafe app faces almost identical problems to its Singapore equivalent. Politicians such as Health Minister Greg Hunt and Government Services Minister Stuart Robert claimed it had overcome them, but following a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, it's apparent this is not the case. While improvements were made for launch by adjusting the code, the app remains not fit for purpose on iPhones.
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How the Australian internet has kept running during the pandemic
Quick adjustments by broadband providers and streaming services helped, but the underlying network remains a mishmash of technologies that create longer-term risk.
Senior Writer, Computerworld | 6 May 2020 6:00 AEST
Data demand during business hours have increased in Australia since March, according to a weekly traffic report from NBN Co, almost certainly due to the coronavirus-caused stay-at-home orders that have so many people working at home. Compared to the last week of February (24 Feb-1 Mar), the pre-COVID-19 period, peak business-hour traffic has increased 18 percent to 9.2 terabits per second in the week of 20 to 25 April.
Despite initial worries that Australian broadband would get overwhelmed by the increased demand, it has handled that increased load. The same is true globally: The internet has held up worldwide.
How Australian telcos prepared the internet for the pandemic
But Australia faced extra challenges that put its broadband infrastructure at greater risk. Australia had barely recovered from an extreme bushfire season, which affected telecommunication towers, when the coronavirus reached its shores.
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RACGP survey reveals strong take up of telehealth but face to face consultations still available
Royal Australian College of GPs
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has released the results of a survey completed by over 1,180 Australian GPs showing that GPs and patients are heeding the message on telehealth.
More than 99% of surveyed GPs revealed that their practices are offering patients consultation via telehealth (including phone and video options). The survey also found that the vast majority of GP practices – almost 97% – are still offering face to face consultations, providing patients with flexible access options to seek the care they need.
The RACGP’s recently launched campaign Expert Advice Matters – which is urging all patients to take care of their health and see their GP for any health issues – has been emphasising the importance of telehealth and telephone consultations as part of the options available during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon welcomed the news.
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Coronavirus: Data lake picks patterns in millions of variables
· The Wall Street Journal
The value of a network rises in proportion to the square of the number of users, observed Ethernet inventor Robert Metcalfe.
Metcalfe’s Law is what enabled Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all social networks. The more the merrier. It’s exactly the opposite for pandemics. You’re safest on your own or in small groups.
The harm goes up in proportion to the square of the number of your contacts.
Or rather it does until it doesn’t, according to 19th-century British epidemiologist William Farr. He didn’t guess. In 1840, he studied data from the 1837-39 smallpox epidemic and noted that the number of deaths followed a normal bell-curve distribution. Known as Farr’s Law, it’s his curves that we’ve flattened. Communicable diseases nab the “low-hanging fruit” first (in this case, the elderly with comorbid conditions), but then find subsequent fruit harder and harder to reach. That echoes Farr’s observation that pandemics burn out as fast as they start. Yet that tendency, and the data that back it, has barely been mentioned during the COVID-19 crisis.
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Drink bleach: How good is Facebook at silencing fake COVID advice?
Antony is a medical reporter with a special interest in technology and pharmacy.
28th April 2020
Since COVID-19 broke out, the social media giants have been telling the public they are working hard to stop the viral spread of misinformation and baseless conspiracy theories.
Twitter deleted tweets from the Brazilian President who had said hydroxychloroquine was "totally effective" against COVID-19 and encouraging Brazilians to ignore social distancing advice.
Twitter's rival Facebook say it's also investing in fact-checkers and sending alerts to users if they interacted with information that was later labelled as false.
However, Facebook is apparently fine with paid advertising telling people to drink bleach.
At least, that’s according to Consumer Reports — a US organisation similar to the consumer advocacy group Choice based in Australia.
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Privacy Week launch of new My Health Record CPD for pharmacies
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has launched a CPD-accredited learning module for pharmacists to better understand their obligations when accessing My Health Record information and, specifically, the My Health Record Security and Access Policy.
The module consists of three topics relating to policies, practices and systems that pharmacies should have in place to ensure data security and patient privacy:
- Why a Security and Access Policy is required;
- The contents of the standard industry policy template, and the definitions and terminology used within the policy template, and
- The obligations to review, update and communicate changes to the policy.
The module also contains video examples demonstrating the practical use of the policy and a downloadable checklist to ensure the pharmacists’ checklist complies with My Health Records Rule requirements, and the expectations of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
This year’s Privacy Awareness Week 2020 brings a message encouraging businesses and individuals to ‘reboot your privacy’. It is a prompt for pharmacies to ensure that in responding to the current situation, they should be guided by the key principles of good privacy practice and put the right controls in place. They should consider the privacy risks and collect only what is necessary, and delete or de-identify information if it’s no longer required for a legal purpose.
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Tuesday, 05 May 2020 22:47
University of Sydney, NSW Health collaborate on ventilator build to fight COVID 19
A multidisciplinary team of academics and students from the University of Sydney has collaborated with NSW Health Infrastructure to produce a "simple, low cost ventilator solution" to assist the COVID-19 effort.
The University says the ventilators have been developed to provide NSW with additional ventilator capacity if required as part of the COVID-19 response.
The “CoVida” ventilator is based on proven ventilator technology with an updated control system, with university students and academics helping to create the first prototype using modern design tools and 3-D printing in a matter of weeks.
The team, led by the Head of School of Biomedical Engineering, Professor Gregg Suaning, comprises academics and students from the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Architecture, Design and Planning.
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Tracing app draft legislation points the way
Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter
Senior Reporter
5 May 2020
The Opposition and privacy and civil liberties experts have welcomed the release of draft legislation enshrining privacy safeguards and protections around the COVID-19 contact tracing app, but there is room for improvements, with several “deficiencies” identified.
Attorney-General Christian Porter released the draft legislation on Monday night, just two days before it is scrutinised by the Senate committee investigating the government’s response to COVID-19 and a week before it is introduced to Parliament.
The Privacy Amendment (Public Health Contact Information) Bill 2020 is largely a copy of the current Biosecurity Act determination governing the COVIDSafe app, putting in law a criminal offense to use the contact data for anything other than contact tracing by state and territory authorities.
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5 May 2020
Towards a post-pandemic ‘new normal’ for GPs
About 20 ago when I was a GP registrar in the Netherlands, my day began with checking results and making phone calls to patients before the first patient arrived in the practice.
After I finished GP training I started working as a locum. I remember several practices that used electronic prescribing: the medication order was forwarded to the pharmacy, straight from the practice desktop software. No paper, handwritten signatures or printed barcodes required.
Much has been said about the extraordinary creativity and innovation the COVID-19 pandemic has generated and what this will mean for Australia’s healthcare system after the pandemic.
Looking at telehealth, it appears Australia is catching up with the Netherlands and other countries. The question is, will we be able to retain the innovations that came out of the COVID-19 disruption?
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Tuesday, 05 May 2020 09:31
Protecting children online still lagging for many Australian parents
Almost half of Australian parents (45%) do not have existing measures in place to protect their children online, according to a new research report.
The research - part of a national survey of over 1,000 parents by Australia’s second largest telco Optus - also reveals that, in this digital age, 83% of Australian parents are interested about learning how they can best protect their child's internet safety and security.
And based on these findings, Optus has announced the development of a solution for Australian parents - the Optus Family Plan - which has now launched.
“More than ever before, families rely on technology to stay connected. It's no secret that children are very active online, whether it be for social, gaming or education purposes and it's crucial parents are equipped with the best possible solutions to keep their families safe online,” said Matt Williams, Managing Director Marketing & Revenue at Optus.
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HITN APAC eBook: Dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak through digital health in APAC
The upcoming eBook will be launched on 12 May.
By Dean Koh
May 04, 2020 09:32 PM
With the pandemic having originated in the APAC region, the upcoming HITN APAC eBook titled, “Dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak through digital health in APAC”, begins with how various governments approached the containment of the COVID-19 outbreak through a combination of policy measures and utilizing technologies for monitoring virus movement and contact tracing.
The eBook will then identify some of the common challenges and lessons learnt in their initial handling of the outbreak – these range from the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), medical supplies to implementing telemedicine measures in a very short amount of time.
“IT preparedness of hospitals is crucial to respond promptly to outbreaks of novel coronaviruses.”
- Dr Hwang Hee, Chief Information Officer, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, South Korea
Read his full interview here.
- Dr Hwang Hee, Chief Information Officer, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, South Korea
Read his full interview here.
Learn case studies from countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand on the different hospitals’ initial responses, successes and best practices in the thick of handling the pandemic. These experiences will serve as a guide for countries to be better prepared for future pandemics.
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How Safe Is “COVIDSafe” - Australia’s COVID-19 Contact-Tracing App?
As the world struggles to deal with the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), governments are turning to technology to help “flatten the curve” and slow the rate of transmissions. Although Australia has been relatively successful in mitigating the widespread health impacts of COVID-19, the federal government has encouraged all Australians to download its COVIDSafe digital contact-tracing app (the App), citing that the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions may depend on the App’s take-up by the Australian public. Due to privacy concerns, support for a contact-tracing app has, unsurprisingly, been mixed, even within the government itself.
Australia is not the first country to offer contact-tracing apps as a solution to the current pandemic. In fact, the App is based on Singapore’s TraceTogether app, which launched in late March 2020 and has been released as “open-source” code so that it can be used by other countries. However, contact-tracing is not the only technological measure being introduced to try and stop COVID-19. In Europe, some mobile operators are sharing data with Italian, German and Austrian health authorities to map movements and the concentration of individuals. Some overseas governments have implemented more invasive measures. For example, the South Korean government is using smartphone location data, surveillance footage and credit card records to monitor whether people have been complying with self-isolation measures, while the Chinese government is using surveillance apps to track its citizens’ locations and to prohibit entry into prescribed locations under certain conditions.
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Government targets COVIDSafe app privacy doubts with new legislation
May 4, 2020 – 6.02pm
New draft COVIDSafe legislation has been unveiled that significantly strengthens privacy safeguards for the contact tracing app, meaning laws against misuse of citizens' data will cover all federal, state and territory agencies, police, courts and anti-corruption bodies.
The draft legislation was released late on Monday ahead of its introduction next week, and will include a broad definition of data, which officials advised would include any associated metadata.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said the legislation would give Australians confidence to download the app, as the government increases its efforts to get many more citizens to sign on and help track the spread of the coronavirus.
The draft bill clarifies the enforcement mechanisms for the penalties already in place against misuse of data from the COVIDSafe app.
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Software Developer Community Announcement
Goals of Care v1.0
The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) has published the specifications for the new Goals of Care v1.0 document type.
The Goals of Care clinical document type is used to capture advance care information in alignment with Western Australia’s Goals of Patient Care Summary documents.
This specification was developed as part of the Agency's National Goals of Care Collaborative project.
Scope
A Goals of Care document clarifies treatment outcomes or limitations for an individual during an episode of care. This document is completed by a healthcare provider in consultation with the individual concerned. A goals of care document that has been uploaded to an individual's My Health Record will be listed in the 'Advance Care Planning Overview' page, which can be accessed via the navigation menu.
The Goals of Care end product leverages the technical specifications for the Advance Care Planning document type. Goals of Care documents represent a sub-type of Advance Care Planning documents.
Goals of Care documents can include a statement related to a person’s care in the context of a serious illness, as agreed between him/her, his/her family, carers and healthcare team, i.e. high-quality discussions about what is important to them, promote good decision-making and patient-centred care. Goals of care cover many steps in healthcare decision-making, including decisions about specific treatments, the intensity of care and even planning for future care needs (advance care directive).
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Google warns of overreach in proposed cross-border data access regime
By Justin Hendry on May 4, 2020 1:08PM
Fines for non-compliance go against the CLOUD Act.
Google has warned that the government’s proposed reciprocal data access regime for law enforcement agencies goes beyond that of the United States’ Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (the CLOUD Act) by forcing service providers to comply with requests.
The new framework proposed under the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Production Orders) Bill is intended to allow for “reciprocal cross-border access to communications data” for law enforcement purposes.
The bill, which is currently before parliament, will allow law enforcement and national security agencies to access data directly from oversees communications providers using international production orders (IPOs), granted international agreements are in place.
It is a necessary requirement for Australia to enter into future bilateral agreements with foreign governments, including the US under the CLOUD Act, as it will also oversees law enforcement and national security agencies to access data held by Australian-based service providers.
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Australia's COVIDSafe contact tracing story is full of holes and we should worry
The government's coronavirus strategy bets heavily on an unproven COVID-19 tracing app, but the lack of a working back end and ham-fisted messaging risks the loss of the public's trust.
By Stilgherrian for The Full Tilt | May 3, 2020 -- 23:46 GMT (09:46 AEST) | Topic: Coronavirus: Business and technology in a pandemic
The message from Prime Minister Scott Morrison is simple, patronising, and dangerously misleading: Download the COVIDSafe app and we can start letting you out of coronavirus lockdown.
It's misleading because there's no evidence that a so-called "contact tracing" app will be a net benefit. Someone should've checked that up front.
It's dangerous because much of the official messaging is about being "safe" and "protecting" you.
The COVIDSafe strategy is technological hubris. Blind faith that an app can replace, or at least substantially enhance, the urgent labour-intensive detective work of contact tracing.
"The lure of automating the painstaking process of contact tracing is apparent. But to date, no one has demonstrated that it's possible to do so reliably despite numerous concurrent attempts," wrote researchers and academics at the Brookings Institution.
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Australia and US call out cyber attacks on hospitals during COVID-19 pandemic
As China pushes Huawei-inspired supply chain freedoms at the United Nations, Australia reminds the world that a cyber legal framework already exists and attacking hospitals is not on.
By Stilgherrian | April 27, 2020 -- 00:02 GMT (10:02 AEST) | Topic: Coronavirus: Business and technology in a pandemic
Australia's cyber diplomats have called for an end to attacks on medical facilities, such as the recent cyber attack on one of the Czech Republic's biggest COVID-19 testing laboratories.
"As Australians and the international community band together to respond to COVID-19, we are concerned that malicious cyber actors are seeking to exploit the pandemic for their own gain," said Australia's Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Dr Tobias Feakin told ZDNet on Friday.
"We call on all countries to cease immediately any cyber activity inconsistent with their international commitments. We also urge countries to exercise increased vigilance to ensure their territory is not a safe haven for cybercriminals.
"History will judge harshly those exploiting this crisis for their own objectives."
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Google case: Court decision opens doors to more legal action on tech giant
A Victorian Supreme Court decision has opened the door to more legal action against Google where its search engine points to defamatory material.
The court last week ordered Google pay criminal lawyer George Defteros $40,000 over defamatory search results linking him to Melbourne’s gangland wars. Google search results contained a Wikipedia article titled “Melbourne’s gangland killings”. It was alleged the Wikipedia article referred to him under a subheading of Carlton Crew, which is a Melbourne-based criminal organisation.
Mr Defteros argued the sentence describing him as the lawyer for Mick Gatto carried the claim that he was a criminal associate and the judge, Justice Melinda Richards, agreed.
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Coronavirus: COVIDSafe app is good for us
Some would have us believe the introduction of the COVIDSafe app signals our nation’s slide towards a totalitarian state — citizens tracked by government, their data gathered, their privacy lost.
But such assertions are nothing but fearmongering. And, while government does not always get all things digital right, once the commonwealth coat of arms is applied, it is automatically assumed that this is a grab for more data or creeping “rights”. There is no slippery slope we are heading down, nor are we under the thumb of an autocratic government.
COVIDSafe is a public health app. It is about saving lives, not about surveillance.
And, while flattening the coronavirus curve is key, protecting the data of those who sign up to the app must also be paramount. Because when it comes to the application of tracing technology like this, we all agree there must be robust structures in place to ensure the privacy and security of citizens are protected.
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Coronavirus: ‘fearmongering’ claim as cyber experts say app safe
The nation’s top cyber experts have backed the security of the coronavirus app after an independent review found it cannot be hacked, as the federal government seeks to encourage millions more Australians to download COVIDSafe ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Friday when significant easing of social controls will be on the table.
As of Sunday night, more than 4.3 million Australians had downloaded the app, with the federal government hoping to secure at least a further two million registrations ahead of the next meeting between Scott Morrison and the state and territory leaders on Friday. Health Minister Greg Hunt told The Australian the uptake of the app would be a key factor in the national cabinet’s decision on how quickly to proceed with the gradual restoration of freedoms for Australians.
“Australians are doing a great job in all aspects of responding to the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.
“In particular we are more than a week ahead of where we had hoped to be on downloads of the app with over 4.3 million registrations to date.
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Digital Health Tools Webinar
Digital health tools to securely access and share health information ADHA Propaganda
This professional development will assist Accredited Exercise Professionals to be aware of and understand digital health tools to securely access and share health information. A specific walk through of the new fast track HPI-I registration process and tools such as My Health Record, Secure Messaging and cyber security considerations will be covered.
Build an understanding of digital health tools to securely access and share health information including:
* Use new fast track forms for allied health.
* Set up their practice for My Health Record.
* Understand next steps to integrate secure messaging into workflow.
* Understand where to go for further information about Cyber Security.
Build an understanding of digital health tools to securely access and share health information including:
* Use new fast track forms for allied health.
* Set up their practice for My Health Record.
* Understand next steps to integrate secure messaging into workflow.
* Understand where to go for further information about Cyber Security.
Presented by Mr Carey Doolan, RN - Australian DIgitial Health Agency (ADHA)
Better use of data and technology can help people live healthier, happier and more productive lives. Digital health can make a real difference to people’s health by giving them greater control and better access to information. Tasked with improving health outcomes for Australians through the delivery of digital healthcare systems and the national digital health strategy for Australia, the Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) commenced operations on 1 July 2016. The Agency is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them. Established as a statutory authority in the form of a corporate Commonwealth entity, the Agency reports to State and Territory Health Ministers through the COAG Health Council.
digitalhealth.gov.au/about-the-agency
Carey has 24 years’ experience in health services in Australia and England including 14 years change and adoption experience in a variety of digital health projects including the recent My Health Record Expansion program, the initial Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) implementation, the eHealth NSW HealtheNet Program and NHS electronic record implementations. Prior to digital health, Carey was a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Community Mental Health.
digitalhealth.gov.au/about-the-agency
Carey has 24 years’ experience in health services in Australia and England including 14 years change and adoption experience in a variety of digital health projects including the recent My Health Record Expansion program, the initial Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) implementation, the eHealth NSW HealtheNet Program and NHS electronic record implementations. Prior to digital health, Carey was a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Community Mental Health.
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The ACCC is facing a devilishly complex task in forcing Google and Facebook to pay publishers
Stephen Brook
Freelance journalist and podcaster
May 4, 2020 — 12.15am
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's new code of conduct designed to bring fairness to the digital advertising marketplace will be world-first. But will it be world-class?
The fight between media companies such as News Corporation and Nine, owner of this newspaper, and Google and Facebook, pits print against digital, regulation against the open internet, market power against political influence, Canberra against California, Walkley Award winning investigations against cat videos.
Our online advertising market is worth about $9 billion a year, and for every $100 spent by advertisers online, excluding classifieds, $47 goes to Google, $24 to Facebook and $29 elsewhere.
But given the intricacies of social media ecosystems, the opacity of digital ad markets, the platform and publishers’ co-dependent but mutually antagonistic embrace, the fact that social media and search engines operate completely different revenue models, attempting to find a way forward will not be easy.
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I'm a privacy expert - and I've downloaded the COVIDSafe app
By Stephen Wilson
May 4, 2020 — 12.00am
As a privacy professional, I would normally be among the first to join the barricades opposing the new COVIDSafe app, which helps alert people who have come into contact with a COVID-19 case. But we’re in a genuine emergency. And the norms are out the window.
Our government has long tended to put national security ahead of privacy and has a poor track record of technology deployments. Some fear the app could be tracking us and they reject assurances from Canberra that surveillance is not the intent. Critics claim the very idea of the app is unproven and its software not properly tested.
The loudest objection is also the simplest: “I do not trust the government and I will not trust their app.”
All these criticisms are valid. But it saddens me to see respected privacy advocates rehashing entrenched positions at a time like this. There’s very little wrong with the app itself, but people resent it because they resent the government. Yet I don’t see how we can afford that luxury right now.
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Google travel data show lockdown fatigue in Australia, US
By Paresh Dave on May 4, 2020 6:32AM
Return to parks and jobs as infection rates flatten.
More people stayed home in Brazil, Japan and Singapore in April as those countries' novel coronavirus cases surged, while people in the United States and Australia returned to parks and jobs as infection rates flattened, data from Google show.
The latest weekly update of aggregated travel patterns Google collected from its users' phones pointed to increased disobedience with lockdown orders in place since March but rising compliance with those issued last month.
The data, posted online by the Alphabet Inc unit late on Thursday, compared daily traffic to retail and recreational venues, parks, train and bus stations, grocery stores and workplaces with a five-week period from Jan. 3 to Feb. 6.
Singapore had apparently controlled the spread of the virus through rigorous contact tracing and surveillance, but the nation-state went into lockdown April 7 after outbreaks in migrant worker dormitories.
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Webinar: Introduction to My Health Record
Thu May 28, 2020
Webinar: Introduction to My Health Record
This session will introduce you to My Health Record. My Health Record is an online platform allowing healthcare professionals to share information with each other as well as the patient, to help give a clearer and more complete picture of a person’s health to aid in their treatment. This session will give you an overview of the platform, along with the opportunity to access and use My Health Record.
You will need an active email address and a MyGov account.
This is an online webinar and an email with the webinar link will be provided provided prior to the session.
Tea Tree Gully library has received a grant to deliver this course and is required to capture attendees details as part of this funding.
You will need an active email address and a MyGov account.
This is an online webinar and an email with the webinar link will be provided provided prior to the session.
Tea Tree Gully library has received a grant to deliver this course and is required to capture attendees details as part of this funding.
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Comments more than welcome!
David.
