-----
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! Its 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.
-----
https://www.seek.com.au/job/53662994?type=standard
EL2 Director, Facility and Security Services - ADHA
Randstad - Commercial
Sydney
Government
& Defence
Government -
Federal
$146,411.00 -
$173,343.00
Full Time
Key
Points:
- Brisbane, Canberra or Sydney based
role
- Ongoing position
- Challenging and Dynamic position
Summary:
This
is a leadership role suited to a forward thinking and driven candidate who
places passion and modernisation at the heart of decision-making. If you're
looking for an opportunity to turn your passion for Facilities and Security
into a rewarding and high profile career - then this role is for you.
-----
https://www.innovationaus.com/concerns-over-sas-quarantine-tech-trial/
Concerns over SA’s quarantine tech trial
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
25 August 2021
Strict
safeguards are needed around the South Australian government
use of new technology for home quarantine, digital rights advocates say, with
individuals to use facial recognition software and geolocation tracking as part
of the trial.
South
Australia launched a trial of home-based quarantine for people returning from
NSW or Victoria this week. The pilot will involve participants using the new Home
Quarantine SA app being contacted at random and required to provide
proof of their location within 15 minutes.
This
will be done through geo-location and facial recognition software. If the
individual does not do this, they will be visited by SA police.
“Using
innovative technology, the app provides geo-location and live face-recognition
to ensure that people are compliant with their home quarantine direction, and
ensures they are at their approved home quarantine address,” South Australian
Premier Steven Marshall said.
-----
https://www.zdnet.com/article/australias-hacking-bill-passes-the-senate-after-house-made-60-amendments/
Australia's 'hacking' Bill passes the Senate after
House made 60 amendments
Shadow Home
Affairs Minister declared the Bill before the Senate was a better Bill because
of amendments, and as such, Labor threw its support behind it. Greens, however,
took issue with cops being able to take over a person's social media.
By Asha Barbaschow |
August 25, 2021 -- 02:11 GMT (12:11 AEST) | Topic: Security
Two
Australian law enforcement bodies will soon have the power to modify, add,
copy, or delete data, after the Bill allowing such activity was waved through
the Senate on Wednesday morning.
The
Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020, now
awaiting Royal Assent, hands the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) three new powers for dealing
with online crime.
The first of
the warrants is a data disruption one, touted as a way to prevent
"continuation of criminal activity by participants, and be the safest and
most expedient option where those participants are in unknown locations or
acting under anonymous or false identities". This warrant gives the cops
the ability to "disrupt data" by modifying, copying, adding, or
deleting it.
Failure to
comply could land an individual with 10 years of imprisonment.
The second is
a network activity warrant that would allow the AFP and ACIC to collect
intelligence from devices or networks that are used, or likely to be used, by
those subject to the warrant.
-----
https://www.zdnet.com/article/pjcis-recommends-passage-of-bill-that-will-allow-incidental-collection-of-australian-data/
PJCIS recommends passage of Bill that will allow
incidental collection of Australian data
Foreign Intelligence
Legislation Amendment Bill will align Australia with its Five Eyes allies, but
will have stronger protections, PJCIS claims.
By Chris Duckett |
August 26, 2021 -- 04:44 GMT (14:44 AEST) | Topic: Security
In less than
a week, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS)
has conducted a review into the Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill
that will allow for the practice of incidentally collecting the data of
Australians, and recommended it be passed.
The
Telecommunications Interception and Access Act (TIA Act) previously banned the
practice, but the government and its security agencies have argued that
Australia has been falling behind foreign agencies.
"The
challenge with the existing foreign communications warrant is that the
interception of domestic communications (communications that both start and end
within Australia) is prohibited, even where that interception is inadvertent or
unavoidable," the PJCIS report said.
The report
said this approach made sense when interception warrants were introduced in
2000, and the main ways to communicate where telephone and fax lines, which had
"reliable geographic identifiers such as country code, city code and
exchange code", but the use of the internet has changed that environment.
------
26 August 2021
NASH SHA-2
transition webinar: what’s new in HPOS and what you need to know to support
your healthcare providers
Dear
Valued Partner,
Register your interest in NASH SHA-2 transition webinar: what’s new in HPOS
and what you need to know to support your healthcare providers
The Australian Digital Health Agency is providing a webinar for PHNs, clinical
peak organisations and other teams involved in supporting healthcare providers
in the transition from NASH SHA-1 to SHA-2 certificates.
Australia’s digital health system is rapidly growing and evolving and, as part
of that evolution, the Australian Digital Health Agency is working closely with
Services Australia, software developers, and healthcare organisations to implement
enhancements to the National Authentication Service for Health (NASH). These
enhancements will provide enhanced security protection for healthcare
information and reduce the need for healthcare organisations to manage multiple
certificates.
To provide stronger protection NASH SHA-1 certificates are being replaced
by NASH SHA-2 certificates and connections to digital health services must
transition to NASH SHA-2 certificates.
……
The webinar
will be recorded and the recording will be offered in the Australian
Digital Health Agency Developer Centre.
We look forward to continuing to work closely with you.
Date: Tuesday 7 September 2021
Time: 2.30pm to 3.30pm AEST
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9070137916248076299
-----
https://jobdispatch.com.au/jobs/secretariat-advisor-the-rocks-sydney/359089137-2/
ADHA -
Secretariat Advisor
- Job Reference: 359089137-2
- Date Posted: 25 August 2021
- Recruiter: Careerone
Partner Network
- Location: The Rocks, Sydney
- Salary: $86,534 to $97,625
- Sector: I.T. & Communications
- Job Type: Permanent
Job Description
Secretariat
Advisor Salary $86,534 to $97,625
Opportunity
Type Full-Time Opportunity Status Ongoing APS Classification APS Level 6
Closing
Date 05/09/2021
Posted18/08/2021
Print
Australian
Digital Health Agency Secretariat Advisor Sydney NSW, Canberra ACT,
Brisbane
QLD Working closely with the Director, Secretariat Services, the Secretariat
Advisor is responsible for provision of high level secretariat and the
management of Board and Advisory Committee business.
-----
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5cd8d3dd-188f-42cc-9e7f-e8bb108f7b3a
Latest OAIC data breach report: a reduction in
notifications but persistent concerns about cyber security incidents.
KPMG Law - Kate Marshall, Veronica Scott
and Jason Kaye
Australia August 25 2021
The
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
now releases bi-annual reports on data breaches that are reported under the
Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme in the Privacy
Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). Its latest report for the
period of January 2021 to June 2021 show 446 data breach notifications were
received, a decrease of 16% on the previous reporting period. But the overall
trends and takeways remain consistent over the last year - see our article here for our insights on the
period, July to December 2020.
Key
causes of breaches
Once
again, malicious attacks and human error are the main causes of reported
breaches. 65% were attributed to malicious or criminal attacks, 30% resulted
from human error and 5% related to system faults. Phishing, ransomware, and
compromised or stolen credentials were the main causes of cyber incidents,
followed by social engineering or impersonation, rogue employees or insider
threats, and theft of paperwork or storage devices.
The
OAIC warns in its report that victims of ransomware, which it defines as “malicious
software that makes data or systems unusable until the victim makes a payment”,
should not assume they haven’t had a notifiable data breach just based on
a lack of evidence that data exfiltration had not occurred. Given the
prevalence of ransomware attacks, the OAIC have stated that there is an
expectation for appropriate internal practices, procedures, and systems to be
in place to undertake a meaningful assessment and implementation of protective
and preventative measures.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/sexual-wellness-industry-fast-becoming-techs-newest-darling/news-story/2ed5fe019d206898f376bb9e31e56d94
Sexual wellness industry fast becoming tech’s newest
darling
Amy Campbell
Style &
Culture Reporter, GQ Australia
Vogue
Australia
August 27,
2021
You’ve heard
of fintech, edtech, and maybe even proptech. Now there’s “sextech”.
Lucy Wark,
29, founded Normal, a
Sydney-based start-up devoted to “sexual wellness”, earlier this year to meet a
growing need for better sexual health resources.
This week,
Wark, formerly an analyst at management consultancy McKinsey, launches The
Modern Guide to Sex, a comprehensive sex education course for adults.
The 15-part
course will be delivered by sex coach Georgia Grace, 28, via a series of video
lessons and a downloadable ebook devoted to subjects including consent, confidence in the bedroom and “the anatomy of
pleasure”.
Normal, which
also designs and sells its own range of boutique sex toys, is backed by
homegrown healthcare technology start-up Eucalyptus. It has hit $1m in sales in
the past six months alone.
-----
https://www.themandarin.com.au/167030-australians-urged-to-have-say-on-digital-health-strategy/
Australians urged to have say on digital health strategy
By Shannon Jenkins
Thursday August 26, 2021
Australians
have been encouraged to influence the future of digitally-enabled healthcare by
having their say on the next National Digital Health Strategy.
The
Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has this week launched
a nationwide online survey on the strategy, which is expected to go
live next year.
ADHA
CEO Amanda Cattermole said there
has been an ‘unprecedented acceleration’ in digital health innovation, noting
that more than 70 million telehealth consultations and 15 million electronic
prescriptions have been delivered during COVID-19.
“Twenty-three
million Australians with a My Health Record now have immediate access to their
vaccination status and COVID-19 test results, plus their prescriptions,
information on allergies and pathology and diagnostic test results,” she said.
-----
https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/my-health-record-to-provide-covid-digital-certificates-from-27-august-2021/
My Health Record to provide Covid digital certificates
from 27 August 2021
·
Health
·
26 Aug 2021 2:07 pm AEST
Australian
Medical Association
Patients with a My Health Record can access their digital COVID-19
vaccination certificates from their My Health Record from 27 August 2021, if
their vaccination provider has registered the date of their COVID-19 doses on
the Australian Immunisation Register.
The My Health Record upgrade will also calculate the earliest date
for a second COVID-19 dose in the Overview page. The date of the patient’s
actual vaccination booking could be different depending on arrangements made by
the patient.
Even
prior to the My Health Record upgrade planned for 26 August 2021, patients can
show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations by logging into their My Health Record
immunisation history. This history will list all vaccinations, including
COVID-19.
For
help with My Health Record, patients can contact the Help line on 1800 723 471
(select Option 2).
-----
https://wildhealth.net.au/why-is-victoria-paying-more-for-a-covid-microsoft-deal/
26 August 2021
Why is Victoria paying $3.1 million more for a covid
Microsoft deal?
Booking
Engine COVID-19 Government
Money Technology
By Rachel
Williamson
Victoria
is the latest government to see a bump in the final cost of a covid contract
after relying on an incumbent supplier.
It
bought vaccine management software from Microsoft in January for a headline fee
of $5.8 million. The final total, listed on the Buying for Victoria public
tender website, came in at $9.1 million.
Microsoft
did not respond to inquiries about why the final bill was $3.1 million higher.
The Victoria Department of Health and Human Services Victoria said the details
were commercial and therefore confidential.
The
Microsoft deal was criticised when the platform
was still not working by June and local rival for the contract, HotDoc, offered
to provide an interim service.
-----
https://wildhealth.net.au/how-much-are-the-specialist-pms-vendors-worth/
25 August
2021
How much are the specialist PMS vendors worth?
Technology
By Jeremy Knibbs
In
the Telstra press conference announcing its purchase of iconic patient-management-system
vendor Medical Director for $350 million a couple of weeks back, a question
about other possible acquisitions in the pipeline was quickly batted back, with
a suggestion that the group now had significant positions in every major sector
of healthcare in the country.
The
company’s chair, Brendan Riley, cited its positions in aged care, pharmacy,
hospitals, community care, Indigenous care, analytics and national health
platforms.
Medical
Director puts Telstra Health firmly in what is the most important future
transactional hub for healthcare in the country – primary care – and with small
but growing positions in hospitals and aged care, the company can look to
integrated solutions for interoperability between each of these islands of patient
data.
But
what about specialists? What about allied health, for that matter?
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/reining-in-the-digital-giants/news-story/76aa0da2386c37584e316293a49e30e2
Reining in the digital
giants
RICHARD
ALSTON
·
3:55PM August 25, 2021
History is replete with examples of monopolies exercising
unacceptable power to the detriment of consumers and having to be curbed by
regulation or even break up – think Standard Oil and AT & T. And now, as we
move deeper into the 21st-century, regulators face similar challenges, with the
inexorable growth of gargantuan tech platforms such as Apple, Google, and
Facebook. It‘s deja vu all over again.
In the 1990s, governments and regulators recognised the need to
open up the fixed line telecommunications bottleneck that was holding back
competition, investment, and innovation and which, if addressed, would reduce
prices, and deliver better quality of service for consumers and business users.
Entrenched telco monopolies swore blind the world would come to an
end if the last mile of the copper networks they controlled was opened up to
third parties. They fought tooth and nail against policymakers and regulators
for years, ultimately all to no avail. The market was opened up, the local loop
unbundled, and anti-competitive conduct was clamped down upon, in Australia
through bespoke telecommunications powers that were legislated with strong
cross-party support. Opening up the telecommunications sector resulted in the
entry of a plethora of new carriers and service providers, driving down prices
and offering real choice for consumers.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/apples-core-problems-after-10-years-of-tim-cook/news-story/485807c200d9eb2f8018b39035ace2a0
Apple’s core problems after 10 years of Tim Cook
·
By The Economist
·
4:59PM August 24, 2021
The Apple will surely fall, even if ever so slowly.
When Tim Cook took the helm from Steve Jobs, the firm’s
co-founder, a decade ago, even the most boosterish Apple fanboys worried that
the company was destined to decline.
Without Apple’s original Willie Wonka, the digital chocolate
factory was about to be run by an automaton who made his career organising
global supply chains and scrutinising spreadsheets. How could someone with so
little dazzle inspire Apple employees to continue creating “insanely great”
products, in Jobs’s famous formulation?
It turned out Mr Cook could. As he celebrates his 10th anniversary
as Apple’s boss on Tuesday, no one is likely to make a peep. And for good
reason. He has staged what is arguably the greatest succession success in tech,
an industry littered with managers who failed in the effort to follow in the
founders’ footsteps. In fact, in pure financial terms, he has been a far more
successful chief executive than the late Jobs, who succumbed to pancreatic
cancer six weeks after stepping down.
No CEO in history has created as much total shareholder value as
Mr Cook. When he took over the company had a market value of $US349bn ($485bn).
Today it is worth $US2.5 trillion, more than any other listed firm ever.
-----
https://www.itwire.com/security/data-breaches-health-sector-still-worst-performer,-says-thales-chief.html
Wednesday, 25 August 2021 18:48
Data breaches: health sector still worst performer,
says Thales chief
By Sam Varghese
The
most recent data breach report from the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner has something of a silver lining, but not as far as the health
sector goes, the ANZ chief of a security firm says.
Brian
Grant, ANZ director at Thales, said the 16% drop in breaches from the previous
reporting period and the apparent holding of the data privacy ground against
increasing malicious or criminal attacks was good news.
"Yet,
if you are a customer of the health sector, and under the current circumstances
we almost all are, there is nothing to smile about as this sector continues to
be the worst performer of any industry," Grant said.
"This
is disappointing for an industry which is focused on patient care and
outcomes."
-----
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/govt-developing-single-front-door-for-data-access-requests-569065
Govt developing "single front door" for data
access requests
By Justin Hendry on
Aug 26, 2021 6:50AM
‘Dataplace’ revealed ahead of sweeping new sharing
regime.
The
federal government is developing a digital platform that will serve as a
“single front door” for third-parties to access public sector data under its
sweeping new data sharing regime.
The
Office of the National Data Commissioner (ONDC) revealed plans for the data
request platform, called ‘Dataplace’, last week in preparation for the Data
Availability and Transparency (DAT) scheme.
Legislation
that will pave the way for DAT, which Labor have described as “deeply flawed”,
is currently before parliament, awaiting changes
recommended by a senate committee in April.
The
bill aims to make public sector data sharing easier by creating an alternative
pathway that bypasses some 500 data secrecy and confidentiality provisions in
157 piece of existing legislation.
-----
https://www.dorevitch.com.au/patients/receiving-results/
Receiving Results
Receiving Results
Doctors
and patients rely on Dorevitch Pathology to deliver timely and accurate
results. Our Results Department is responsible for disseminating critical
patient information, ensuring this is performed in a prompt and professional
manner that maintains patient privacy.
Results
are delivered to referring Practitioners once testing is completed. As a
patient, it is best that you attend a consultation with your doctor to discuss
your test results as even “normal” test results may require further medical
investigation.
My Health Record
We
are connected to the My Health Record system, operated by the Australian
Government. For tests that are bulk-billed we will send a copy of your
pathology test results to your My Health Record unless you specify on the form
for us not to send a copy. You will be able to view these results seven days
after we have completed the tests.
You
can manage access controls within the My Health Record system for any results
we upload. If you never wish to receive any results from us in your My Health
Record, or you need to change consent for upload for a recent visit, you can
also call us via the Contact Us information.
We
are unable to upload results issued prior to November 2020.
-----
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/my-digital-health-record-tickets-165853346825?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Sep. 22 2021
My Digital Health Record
by
City of Bayswater Libraries
Free ADHA Propaganda
Event Information
Find out more about the Federal Government's
new My Health Record.
About this event
Learn
how to access your new My Health Record, and why it's important to keep it up
to date. You will learn how to manage your My Health Record to share the
information you want with your healthcare providers.
Date and time
Wed., 22 September 2021
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm AWST
-----
https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/?Id=1d69791f-32a1-4b0d-8df8-948eeea08a56
Contract Notice View - CN3741573-A1
AusTender
holds Contract and Standing Offer Notices for the 07/08 financial year forward.
For information related to previous years, please refer to https://data.gov.au/dataset/historical-australian-government-contract-data.
Subcontractors:
For Commonwealth contracts that started on or after 1 December 2008, agencies
are required to provide the names of any associated subcontractors on
request. Information on subcontractors can be sought directly from the
relevant agency through the Agency Contact listed in each Contract Notice.
Personnel recruitment
Agency Details
Contact
Name: Agency Contracts
Email
Address: contracts@digitalhealth.gov.au
Office
Postcode: 2606
CN ID:
CN3741573-A1
Agency:
Australian Digital Health Agency
Amendment
Publish Date: 2-Aug-2021
Category: Personnel recruitment
Contract
Period: 7-Dec-2020 to 30-Jun-2022
Contract
Value (AUD): $234,850.50
Amendment
Value (AUD): $151,974.22
Amendment
Start Date: 29-Jun-2021
Description: Personnel recruitment
Parent
CN: CN3741573
Procurement
Method: Open tender
ATM ID: DH3150V
SON ID: SON3557594
Agency
Reference ID: DH3150
-----
https://nationalstrategy.digitalhealth.gov.au/
The future of health is digital
Australians
are more digitally connected now than ever before - 9 out of 10 of us own a
smartphone and are accessing all sorts of services online. Now’s your chance to
influence the future of health in Australia by taking part in the digital
health survey and letting us know what you think.
Have your say
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-other-pandemic-threatening-our-health-online-misinformation-20210824-p58lhz.html
The other pandemic threatening our health: online
misinformation
Digital literacy analyst
August 25, 2021 — 5.00am
There
are two pandemics happening right now, a medical one and an information one.
Both wildly destructive to our health.
We
have been inundated with a massive wave of information since the Delta outbreak
in Sydney began. Every intricacy about each vaccine, stay-at-home orders for
every region, government grants. The next day more explosive intricacies and
details about the vaccine, new stay-at-home orders, new government grant
analysis.
Then
we have every person weighing in on all of this on social media. About 6000
tweets are posted onto Twitter every second. That’s 350,000 tweets a minute or
500 million tweets a day. “COVID NSW” has been trending for weeks, full of
tweets devoted to giving us even more information, opinions, criticisms about
COVID-19. The same thing is happening on Facebook, Reddit, WhatsApp, websites
and blogs. The list goes on and on.
We
are mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted from information overload.
The problem is that that exhaustion can encourage us to step out of the
mainstream news and seek out simpler information and solutions. I’ve been told
multiple times by friends and colleagues lately that they have stopped
listening to “The News”, stating that it’s too much and that they’re losing
hope.
Hello
misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories! Posts on WhatsApp,
Messenger, Facebook present extreme yet easy to understand solutions. Such
posts are everywhere and because we are information-tired they are becoming our
quick-fix, go-to place to keep up to date.
-----
www.digitalhealth.org.au
Digital
Health Institute Summit postponed
Dear Colleague,
Our national conference is one of the most uplifting and
energised events on the national healthcare calendar. It’s the place to meet
friends, colleagues and everyone passionate about the potential for healthcare
in the digital age.
Traveling to the conference from all over Australia is part of
the unique experience. Sadly, we know many of our Fellows, Members and others
across the digital health community will be unable to travel interstate in the
current circumstances surrounding COVID.
So, to ensure the experience of national conference continues to
be simply the best networking and educational event possible, we have
made the decision to postpone the Digital Health Institute Summit
which was to be held in Melbourne in October.
The Summit will now be held in Melbourne and online from Monday
21 - Tuesday 22 February 2022.
By February, vaccination rates will continue to rise and there
will hopefully be more opportunity to attend the national conference in person.
I’d like to give a big shout out to everyone getting their jab,
and to all of the healthcare professionals and AIDH members supporting the
vaccine rollout and caring for those hospitalised with COVID.
I would like to thank all the 127 speakers and all our sponsors
and exhibitors for supporting the change of date.
I can’t express enough how much I’m looking forward to spending
time with each and every one of you in 3D in February. Also, stay tuned for
details of an online get together we are planning to keep you connected in
October.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further
clarification or information. We will continue to communicate regularly with
you on the Melbourne Digital Health Institute Summit 2022.
Kind regards,
Dr Louise Schaper PhD FAIDH FIAHSI CHIA BSc(OT)Hons
CEO, AIDH
-----
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e7227f1e-2788-4b03-87f9-f0f3719ca89f
An app for that? What do developers of software-based
medical devices need to know?
King &
Wood Mallesons Suzy Madar, Kim O'Connell and
Matthew Swinn
Australia August 23 202
1
Overview
The
increasing pace of digital health, wearables, and apps generally have spawned
an increasing number of innovative software-based products that are able to
assist with, or may aim to replace, conventional medical decisions and
treatments. These range from wearable technology that allows users to track
their heartrate for fitness purposes, to software intended to analyse cardiac
MRIs and make related diagnoses. Given the potential therapeutic and diagnostic
uses of such products, Australia’s medical devices regulator, the TGA, has taken
an increasing interest in their regulation – and has fortunately liberalised
some regulatory requirements.
The
TGA has released recent guidance to
accompany the reforms, which will assist to guide developers and “sponsors” of
devices in the Australian market.
1.1
What has changed?
In
Australia, software-based medical devices are regulated by the Therapeutic
Goods Administration (TGA) and must be included in the Australian Register of
Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) before they can be legally supplied, except where an
exemption applies.
Recent
legislative amendments[1] seek to better equip
the scheme to deal with the increasing number of software-based medical devices
available on the market.
These
changes have introduced:
- “carve-outs” (i.e. exclusions and an
exemption) for certain software products so that they are not subject to
TGA regulation;
- new classification rules for
software-based medical devices; and
- updates to the Essential Principles
which clarify the mandatory requirements for sponsors and manufacturers of
medical devices.
1.2
What do I need to do now?
These
amendments are now in place, having commenced on 25 February 2021, subject to
transitional provisions discussed below. Businesses who are involved in, or
invest in, the digital health and apps need to familiarise themselves with the
new amendments to ensure they comply with—and take advantage of—these
regulations going forward. In particular, ‘carve-outs’ given to specific types
of software products may facilitate easier access to the market in Australia.
-----
https://www.afr.com/technology/has-facebook-turned-the-corner-on-disinformation-20210820-p58kgg
Anti-vaxxer ‘rubbish’ declining on Facebook: GPs
John Davidson Columnist
Aug 23, 2021
– 12.12pm
Facebook
has stemmed the tide of COVID-19 disinformation on its platform and is now part
of the solution to anti-vaxxer “rubbish”, rather than part of the problem,
Australia’s peak body for general practitioners has said.
Just
a year after the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners warned that
Facebook and Twitter were holding
back the battle against COVID-19 through their continual publication of
“dangerous anti-vaxxer messaging”, the RACGP has applauded Facebook,
citing its recent de-platforming of groups like Reignite Democracy Australia as
a pivotal moment in the war against COVID-19 disinformation.
“They’re
now very strong on making sure the pro-vaccine message is as strong as can be,
which is very important given the number of people who use Facebook,” RACGP
president Karen Price said.
“Anyone
who is taking a stance against anti-vax rubbish is part of the solution, for
sure,” she said.
-----
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=93535e6d-e3c4-4f1f-b360-f486fafb8c5c
What Computers See, What They Don’t and What They
Shouldn’t
Gilbert + Tobin
- Bryce Craig, Jen Bradley and Peter Waters
Australia August 18 2021
There’s
a special indignity that comes with chasing an evasive mosquito through your
house. That’s why one Israeli start-up has created what its founder dubs “the
Iron Dome for mosquitos”.
When
Bzigo’s ‘autonomous mosquito
detection solution’ spots a mosquito, it uses a low energy laser to pinpoint
the pest in situ and sends your phone an alert. While the current version
leaves the mosquito destruction to you, the company is developing a model that
will zap the pesky insects straight out of the sky!
And
while this particular product has a certain ‘As Seen On TV’ novelty to it, the
technology behind it, computer vision, also happens to be one of the most
promising fields of AI.
Computer
vision
Put
simply, computer vision gives computers the gift of sight, enabling recognition
of what is going on in a given piece of visual media.
Stanford’s
recent Artificial Intelligence Index Report
identifies computer vision as one of the most rapidly industrialising field of
machine learning, with computer vision systems reaching human-level performance
in recent years. This accelerated development can be attributed to the shift
toward more autonomous, deep learning methods, as well as better (and cheaper)
hardware.
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https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/facebook-admits-top-performing-post-cast-doubt-on-coronavirus-vaccine-20210822-p58kww.html
Facebook admits top-performing post cast doubt on
coronavirus vaccine
By Elizabeth
Dwoskin
August 22,
2021 — 3.27pm
Washington:
Facebook has revealed that an article raising concerns that the coronavirus
vaccine could lead to death was the top performing US link on its platform from
January to March this year, acknowledging the widespread reach of such material
for the first time.
It
also said another site that pushed COVID-19 misinformation was also among the
top 20 most visited pages on the platform.
Facebook
earlier this year faced
a torrent of criticism from President Joe Biden and others who have
alleged that the company has allowed misinformation about coronavirus vaccines
to flourish. White House officials have alleged that many Americans are
reticent to take the coronavirus vaccine, in part, because of false or
misleading information they have read on social media services, including
Facebook.
In
releasing a report that the company had previously shelved, Facebook attempted
to push back against critics, arguing that the definition of health
misinformation is often less black and white than what some would make it seem.
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https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/been-bombarded-by-spam-texts-and-ghost-phone-calls-you-re-not-alone-20210820-p58kgn.html
Been bombarded by spam texts and ghost phone calls?
You’re not alone
August 22, 2021 — 12.00am
Garbled
text messages and ghost calls are hitting mobile phones across the country in a
new wave of scams, including one that promises a voicemail from a friend but
delivers malware designed to steal your passwords and data.
The
“Flubot” scam began circulating in early August, targeting android phones with
an often misspelt SMS message about a missed call and a malicious link that,
when clicked, can harvest your contact list to spread further.
The
competition watchdog has received more than 3700 reports of the Flubot scam
since the first report on August 4, a record for a single scam, and is
receiving about 500 reports of SMS-related scams a day.
Delia
Rickard, deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,
which runs the Scamwatch website, said Flubot prompted users to download an app
which installed malware – similar to a computer virus – that could access
personal data and banking details.
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https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/asx-system-that-led-to-outage-had-defects-and-wasn-t-tested-adequately-review-finds-20210823-p58l19.html
ASX system that led to full-day outage was not ready to
go live: report
August 23, 2021 — 10.28am
The
country’s largest stock exchange has been slammed by an independent review for
sending a new technology system live with inadequate testing, extensive defects
and poor project delivery management, leading to a crippling ASX outage.
The
ASX suffered a
full-day trading outage last November, caused by glitches in the
launch of matching system ASX Trade which tripped the entire system causing the
worst outage in four years for the local bourse.
The
Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Reserve Bank of Australia
considered the outage a “significant concern” for market stability and
organised for the ASX to enlist consulting firm IBM Australia to undertake an
independent external review.
The
report’s findings, released on Monday, determined the ASX had met or exceeded
industry standards in more than 75 per cent of capabilities assessed but also
highlighted “gaps in the rigour” across risk management, project delivery,
testing and incident management.
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Comments more
than welcome!
David.
