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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! It’s pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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‘Significant defects’: High-profile defamation lawyers pan anti-trolling bill
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
15 March 2022
Some of Australia’s most esteemed defamation lawyers have called on the federal government to scrap its controversial “anti-trolling” bill, saying it has “significant defects” and would likely leave victims of online abuse without any recourse.
A Senate inquiry is currently scrutinising the Coalition’s Anti-Trolling Bill, which creates a “new novel framework to allow Australians to respond to defamatory content posted on social media”.
The government said the reforms would enable those who believe they have been defamed online to apply to have the relevant platform identify the poster of this material, and would reverse the High Court’s Voller defamation ruling.
But in a submission to the inquiry, a number of high-profile defamation lawyers slammed the bill, saying it is unnecessary, will create confusion and will leave victims of defamatory content worse off than they currently are.
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https://digitalhealth.org.au/blog/cybersecurity-in-healthcare-how-is-your-cybersecurity-hygiene/
Cybersecurity in Healthcare: How is your cybersecurity hygiene?
Mar 15, 2022 | Advocacy, AIDH news, Community Chats, Community of Practice, Cybersecurity, E-Safety, Surveys
As healthcare becomes increasingly digital based and an ever-wider range of IT solutions are put in place cybersecurity remains a top concern for healthcare at all levels, particularly since COVID-19 caused a rush to provision remote care solutions alongside traditional face-to-face clinical encounters. More importantly, it is critical that cybersecurity is seen as everybody’s responsibility, not the traditional view of it being the responsibility of IT geeks hiding in a back room somewhere.
The Australian Digital Health Agency website states:
“Everyone involved in providing and supporting healthcare plays a role in maintaining the privacy of people’s information that healthcare provider organisations hold. This means making sure everyone is secure in their online behaviours, both at work and at home.” [Source]
One of the biggest challenges facing organisations is raising awareness across all staff of the risks involved when working with data. There are financial, reputational, and legal risks in the release or loss of any data, and more so with data that may identify individuals (PII – personally identifiable information). Federally, and at state level, PII is legally protected, and it is therefore essential this data have strong governance and controls applied.
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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/
Affected by the floods?
ADHA Propaganda
If you’ve been affected by the recent floods and need to access your medicine
information,
go to My Health Record. Your
pharmacist can use the information to help you get what you need.
If
you can't access your record, ask any pharmacy to check My Health Record
to see your prescription details.
You'll need to provide your Medicare number.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/are-gps-aware-social-media-medicolegal-risks
Are GPs aware of social media medicolegal risks?
A survey by medical defence organisation Avant highlights social media pitfalls unknown to many doctors
17th March 2022
Many doctors are not using social media in a medicolegally safe way, a survey conducted by a medical defence organisation shows.
Avant has surveyed 1359 GPs, other specialists and trainees about the safe use of social media.
It reveals many doctors have a limited understanding of their obligations when it comes to using messaging apps to communicate about patients, particularly when it comes to documenting.
Messaging apps were the most common social media platform used by doctors, with 51% accessing them multiple times a day.
Nearly half were unaware they would be required to document clinical information about their patient, sent by a colleague via WhatsApp, in their medical records.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=416e0a56-fafb-4c2d-ae45-7e745f4d21c3
Upholding Australians’ privacy and freedom of information: The role of the OAIC
Nyman Gibson Miralis Dennis Miralis
Australia March 11 2022
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is the independent national regulator for privacy and freedom of information. It promotes the rights of all Australians to access government-held information and have their personal information protected.
In October 2021, the government issued its Ministerial Statement of Expectations for the OAIC outlining how it expects the OAIC will achieve its objectives, carry out its functions and exercise its powers.
In December 2021, the OAIC responded to the Government’s Statement of Expectations with a Statement of Intent.
This article explores the Statement of Intent and how the OAIC intends to continually safeguard the rights of Australians regarding information privacy and freedom.
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Friday, 18 March 2022 10:44
ACCC hits Meta with suit over alleged bogus crypto ads
The Australian consumer watchdog has taken Facebook parent Meta to the Federal Court, accusing the company of placing false, misleading or deceptive ads for cryptocurrencies featuring Australian celebrities.
In a statement, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said on Friday that the acts breached Australian Consumer Law or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act.
Additionally, Meta is also alleged to have knowingly been involved in false or misleading conduct and representations by the advertisers.
The ads, it is claimed, attempted to boost investment in cryptocurrency or money-making schemes, with people like businessman Dick Smith, TV presented David Koch and former NSW premier Mike Baird featured in them.
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ACCC sues Facebook’s Meta over scam ads featuring Dick Smith, David Koch, Mike Baird
March 18, 2022
The competition watchdog is suing Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Meta Platforms Ireland for alleged false, misleading or deceptive conduct.
The conduct relates to publishing of scam crypto advertisements featuring prominent Australian public figures, including businessman Dick Smith, TV presenter David Koch and former NSW Premier Mike Baird.
One consumer lost more than $650,000 due to one of these scams being falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook, ACCC says.
The ACCC alleges the conduct is in breach of the Australian Consumer Law or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act.
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https://www.trybooking.com/events/859948/sessions/2971905/sections/1542099/tickets
The Benefits of My Health Record for Specialist Practices
Select tickets ADHA Propaganda
Tuesday 22 March 2022 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
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https://www.innovationaus.com/there-is-no-way-to-opt-out-of-iview-data-sharing-abc-confirms/
There is no way to opt-out of iview data-sharing: ABC confirms
Joseph
Brookes
Senior Reporter
17 March 2022
There is no way to opt-out of data sharing when using ABC platforms the broadcaster has conceded, after experts publicly demonstrated user information being sent to third-party companies this week.
But the ABC has pushed back on the latest controversy around users’ viewing habits being shared with data companies, insisting it is only for analytics and its own audience understanding rather than advertising or revenue.
It comes as the ABC faces mounting criticism over its decision to force users to sign up for accounts to continue to access the popular iview video-on-demand service.
On Tuesday the ABC began rolling out mandatory user accounts for its iview service. The registration process requires personal details like name, date of birth, location and gender.
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Thursday, 17 March 2022 10:10
Open slather as ABC leaks data to Google, Facebook, Tealium et al
The ABC's claim to being the most trusted news site in Australia has come under serious doubt following the release of a video that shows how the data of users, logged in or not, is being leaked to a number of commercial outlets.
Researcher Vanessa Teague, one of the few technical experts to raise objections to the ABC's imposition of logins for iview users, pointed out on Wednesday that the ABC news website was also leaking data to the likes of Google, Facebook, Chartbeat and Tealium.
She demonstrated the leaking in a video she uploaded on YouTube, one that somewhat surprisingly has a very small number of views. Even hashed email addresses are sent to these commercial entities. iTWire has independently verified that this does indeed happen.
Last year, Dr Teague, who runs her own infosec company Thinking Cybersecurity, sought to obtain details of the data-sharing deal that the ABC has with Tealium - which styles itself as a customer data hub and enterprise tag management firm - but was knocked back after filing a freedom of information application.
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https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/adf5f1db-6c83-440c-b390-dc8b2d706038
Contract Notice View - CN3612552-A4
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.
National Infrastructure Services for the My Health Record System
Contact Name: Australian Digital Health Agency
Email Address: contracts@digitalhealth.gov.au
Office Postcode: 2606
CN ID: CN3612552-A4
Agency: Australian Digital Health Agency
Amendment Publish Date: 15-Sep-2021
Category: Management information systems MIS
Contract Period: 27-Jun-2012 to 30-Jun-2022
Contract Value (AUD): $640,975,227.00
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Private hospitals warn some ICUs could close due to cybersecurity costs
March 16, 2022 — 6.09pm
Private hospitals say they may be forced to shut down some intensive care units unless they are given financial support from the federal government to help defend their systems from cyber attacks in order to comply with proposed new security measures.
The new measures, contained in a bill to beef up the government’s oversight over critical infrastructure industries vulnerable to cyberattacks, will require hospitals with ICUs to develop “risk management programs” that will cost $8.5 million in the first year and ongoing costs of $5.8 million per year.
Major private health providers Catholic Health Australia, Ramsay Health Care and Uniting Care told the Federal Parliament’s security and intelligence committee the government had failed to properly consult with them about the bill, including whether they could cope with the financial burden.
Giving evidence at a public inquiry into the bill on Wednesday, St Vincent’s Health Australia chief executive Toby Hall said the Catholic hospital network “simply cannot afford it”, saying it would amount to a seven per cent drop in earnings.
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Virtual health here to stay says Medibank as it invests $10m in start-up, Medinet
11:00PM March 16, 2022
Australia’s biggest health fund Medibank is doubling down on virtual health, investing $10m in a start-up that allows video and audio GP consultations, as well as door-to-door delivery of prescription medication.
Medibank will take a minority stake in Medinet – launched in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic catapulted telehealth into the mainstream – and deploy its services to policyholders as part of its preventative health arsenal.
About 10,000 people use Medinet services a day, ranking in the top five most downloaded health apps in Australia.
Medibank group executive – CEO health services, Andrew Wilson, said the $10m investment will allow Medinet to further scale and develop its technology, reaching more patients.
It comes as Medibank has been unleashing its balance sheet to secure a number of deals, which include taking minority stakes in short-stay hospitals in an effort to rein in out-of-pocket costs.
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ResMed and other medical device makers face Russia, Ukraine hit over semiconductors
6:49AM March 16, 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is threatening to derail the production of a range of medical devices from pacemakers to sleep apnoea machines, as the war exacerbates a global semiconductor shortage.
A supply chain crunch of the essential computer chips has already plagued the automotive industry, blowing out wait times for some new cars beyond six months. Now the healthcare sector is facing a similar crisis, potentially disrupting production at companies such as ASX-listed sleep apnoea machine maker ResMed and triggering price rises.
Production of vital raw materials for the silicon chips — which are key components in essential healthcare devices including MRI machines, pacemakers and blood-sugar monitors for diabetes — are concentrated in Russia and Ukraine.
About half the world’s supply of neon gas, which is used to fuel the lasers that print circuitry on semiconductors, is produced in Ukraine. And more than 30 per cent of the world’s palladium — which is used in the later manufacturing stages of semiconductors — comes from Russia.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a6734c5e-1065-4324-8240-c557cc0724c7
The AFP fails to comply with privacy obligations in using facial recognition tool
Nyman Gibson Miralis Dennis Miralis
Australia March 11 2022
Facial recognition is often a crucial element in identifying the perpetrator of a crime. It can help to protect the public when used together with appropriate safeguards.
Following the recent use of the Clearview AI facial recognition tool by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk has determined that the AFP failed to comply with its privacy obligations in using the tool.
What is the facial recognition tool?
Clearview AI’s facial recognition tool allows law enforcement to upload a photo of a person’s face and match it to other photos of that person on the internet. A link is then provided to the source of the images.
According to Clearview, the platform “includes the largest known database of 10+ billion facial images sourced from public-only web sources, including news media, mugshot websites, public social media, and other open sources.”
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/online-safety-committee-tags-algorithms-encryption-as-perilous-577412
Online safety committee tags algorithms, encryption as perilous
By Richard Chirgwin on Mar 16, 2022 11:42AM
Committee to spawn more committees.
The federal government’s online safety report was published yesterday, and in addition to calling for algorithmic transparency, it also takes aim at end-to-end encryption.
Chair of the Social Media and Online Safety Committee Lucy Wicks wrote in the report (PDF) that platforms have to “bear the ultimate burden of providing safety for their users”, rather than being able to set their own rules.
As things now stand, she wrote, platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been “enabling the proliferation of online abuse on their spaces.”
However,
the report doesn’t level criticism only at platforms. Wicks added: “there is
also a need to focus on the conduct and behaviour of individuals who use
technology in ways that harm others.”
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My Health Record Webinar for ASCIA members 31 March 2022
Upcoming webinar for ASCIA members: Uploading allergy information to My Health Record
ADHA Propaganda
Uploading information about a patient’s allergies and adverse reactions is important for their safety because it becomes available to other healthcare providers that treat them. Documents uploaded to My Health Record by specialists and viewed by other healthcare providers increased by 23% in January 2022.
Upcoming webinar: Uploading allergy information to My Health Record
Find out how to upload allergy information in a 30-minute webinar specifically for ASCIA members. Dr William Smith (Clinical immunology/allergy specialist) and Dr Kathy Rainbird (Australian Digital Health Agency) will explain how you can do this directly from your clinical software. The webinar will include a step-through demonstration using Genie software and time for questions.
Date and time: 8pm AEDT (5pm WST) Thursday 31 March 2022
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3760776590315362830
Suitable for: Specialists using a range of conformant clinical software.
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View My Health Record using an app
ADHA Propaganda
You can securely view health information in your record through the HealthNow app.
You can also access your proof of vaccination and immunisation history.
Quick facts
What's the difference between 'access' and 'viewing access'?
What to do if you think information is missing
I don't have a smartphone and internet
Getting started
If you have a My Health Record and have already set up your record, you have the option of using a mobile app to view information in your record. This is a secure and simple way to view your information.
This news item was issued on 13 March 2022 by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA), the peak professional body for clinical immunology and allergy in Australia and New Zealand.
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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 11:40
No opt-out for users as iview mandatory logins introduced: researcher
Users of the ABC's iview service will not be able to opt out of disclosing even the hashed version of their email addresses, something that had been promised in July last year, a security researcher says.
The service was set to impose mandatory logins for use from today [Tuesday] but does not appear to have done so as of this writing [1140 AEDT].
Dr Vanessa Teague, who runs the infosec outfit Thinking Cybersecurity, said in a tweet that the opt-out offered last July had been limited to "a hashed version of your email address to Google and Facebook." Just email address, not the rest of the data, regardless of login."
But now even that bit of information cannot be withheld.
Dr Teague lodged an FOIA request on 16 June last year, seeking full information on data-sharing agreements signed by the ABC with third parties who have access to iview data, including Google, Facebook and customer data hub and enterprise tag management firm Tealium.
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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 11:09
Politicians' claims will not be checked by Meta during Aust election
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, says it will not fact-check claims made by politicians during the forthcoming Federal Election campaign in order to catch disinformation.
The company issued a long blog post on Tuesday, written by Josh Manchin, the head of Policy in Australia, about how it was getting ready for the 2022 election.
Manchin told a media conference: "The speech of politicians is already very highly scrutinised.
"It's scrutinised by [journalists], but also by academics, experts, and their political opponents who are pretty well-positioned to push back or indicate they don't believe something's right if they think they're being mischaracterised."
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Facebook ramps up ‘fake news’ fight ahead of May election
11:00PM March 14, 2022
Facebook parent company Meta is deploying new tools it says will avoid the missteps of the 2019 Australian and US 2016 elections, expanding its fact-checking program to combat misinformation and forcing more transparency from political advertisers, but critics say the tech giant is still ‘giving a free pass’ to politicians to deceive voters.
Facebook has previously been a hot spot for voter disinformation in Australia, including false claims that Labor would introduce a ‘death tax’ in Australia, while bad actors from Kosovo, Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia used nationalistic content to manipulate Australian Facebook users during the 2019 election, according to research from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
As a result Facebook parent company Meta has signed on RMIT FactLab as a new third party fact-checking program, joining Agence France Presse and Australian Associated Press to review and rate political content. The company will also run a ‘Check the Facts’ campaign, including in Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese and Arabic, and will lead a ’don’t be a misinfluencer’ push to combat influencers sharing fake news.
“What we’ve tried to assemble is a comprehensive package of measures that can cover all potential election integrity risks – domestic and foreign – and we’re obviously particularly conscious of foreign information operations that can occur,” Facebook’s head of public policy Josh Machin said on Monday.
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Doctors blast government for ‘broken promise’ of GP reforms
By Dana Daniel
March 15, 2022 — 5.00am
Doctors will unleash a pre-election attack on the Coalition over delayed reforms to GP care, pressuring the federal government as it seeks to limit the pandemic’s impact on the budget.
After COVID-19 measures added $41 billion to health and aged care spending over the past two years, the Morrison government has stalled on its promised 10-year Primary Health Plan, which it said in 2019 would “strengthen and modernise” GP care.
Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid said doctors were “bitterly disappointed” by the Coalition’s failure to deliver its plan to revolutionise general practice as promised in the 2019-20 federal budget.
“This is a promise that’s been broken by the government,” Dr Khorshid said.
He said the government seemed to have decided it had already spent enough on health during the pandemic, “but health is actually in desperate need of investment”.
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A new wave of digital media is coming. Will it do better than the last one?
March 14, 2022 — 12.45am
A new wave of digital media companies are coming to Australia, offering Millennial and Gen Z readers news in a punchy, quick and stylish format.
They tend to use frequent bolding to break up the page and emphasise subheadings that make salient points clear to the reader at a glance and reach readers where they are online, whether through email newsletters or Instagram.
Why it matters: mainstream media in Australia missed the boat on the internet in the early 2000s, doing huge damage to its profitability and resulting in thousands of journalists losing their jobs. It tried to get on board with ad-driven sites like Huffington Post and Buzzfeed News in the 2010s, but they did not last. If the new wave of outlets work, they could offer the industry a shot at redemption (and profit) but also fresh competition for established players.
Major media outlets might also be convinced that a snappier tone and (judicious) use of memes, humour and emojis is the way to reach younger readers, at least on some content.
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Semiconductor squeeze likely as sanctions on Russia melt supply
By Colin Kruger
March 14, 2022 — 12.05am
Oil, gas and nickel are grabbing the headlines, but there is a lot more to the Russian-engineered commodities turmoil upending global markets.
Wheat has soared to record highs as the Russia-Ukraine war effectively shuts off one-quarter of the world’s supply of the staple food stock and potentially ruins future crops in the war-torn nation.
But the flow-on effects are not always easy to see, especially in the case of Russia which is not being physically damaged by the conflict.
The price of nickel rose 250 per cent in just 48 hours to a high of $US100,000 a tonne before trading was stopped last week. The key instigator of the spike was a bet on nickel’s outlook by Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda, who controls the world’s largest nickel producer, Tsingshan.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/half-of-worlds-neon-output-for-chips-halted-577291
Half of world's neon output for chips halted
By Alexandra Alper on Mar 14, 2022 6:59AM
By two leading suppliers in Ukraine.
Ukraine's two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world's supply of the key ingredient for making chips, have halted their operations as Moscow has sharpened its attack on the country, threatening to raise prices and aggravate the semiconductor shortage.
Some 45-54 percent of the world's semiconductor grade neon, critical for the lasers used to make chips, comes from two Ukrainian companies, Ingas and Cryoin, according to Reuters calculations based on figures from the companies and market research firm Techcet.
Global neon consumption for chip production reached about 540 metric tons last year, Techcet estimates.
Both firms have shuttered their operations, according to company representatives contacted by Reuters, as Russian troops have escalated their attacks on cities throughout Ukraine, killing civilians and destroying key infrastructure.
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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/my-health-record/profile-and-settings
My Health Record
Profile and settings
You can view and update your personal information, add emergency contacts, set up email or SMS notifications, check your Medicare information or cancel your record.
Sign in to My Health Record
You will need to sign in to your myGov account to access My Health Record.
Profile
Your profile is a place to keep track of all your personal details in My Health Record.
Emergency contacts
Adding emergency contacts helps your healthcare providers if they need to contact a family member, close friend or carer in an emergency.
Set notifications
You can set an email or mobile phone notification to let you know when changes are made to your record.
Medicare Information Settings
Some Medicare information is available to view in your record. You can view, add or edit the types of Medicare information available in your record at any time.
Cancel your record
If you decide you no longer want a record, you can cancel your registration at any time. The information stored in it, including any backups, will be permanently deleted.
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David.
