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 any 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, and found interesting.
-----
https://www.innovationaus.com/no-proof-covidsafe-app-developers-were-delivering/
No proof COVIDSafe app developers were delivering
Joseph
Brookes
Senior Reporter
21 September 2022
The
government agency responsible for outsourcing the development
of the failed COVIDSafe app did not monitor the developer’s performance or
consider value for money as the contract more than doubled to $6 million.
The
Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) also failed to notice multiple overpayments
to the company totaling nearly $400,000, which have not been paid back
six-months after being identified. The agency was made responsible for
Australia’s controversial contact tracing app early in the pandemic.
According
to a scathing new review of the
DTA’s ICT procurement, agency officials decided to “bypass the usual process”
to select the developers of COVIDSafe because it was related to the pandemic.
They
would later fail to notice overpayments or properly monitor exactly what the
company was delivering.
COVIDSafe
was officially scrapped last month by the new Labor government, which called it
a “colossal waste of more than $21 million of taxpayers money” after it
discovered just 17 unique close contacts in the two years despite millions of
downloads.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/govt-handpicked-deloitte-for-mygov-upgrade/
Govt handpicked Deloitte for myGov upgrade
Justin Hendry
Editor
21 September
2022
Deloitte was
the only supplier approached for a major overhaul of the myGov platform that
has netted the consulting giant more than $45 million so far, a scathing audit
of the Digital Transformation Agency’s procurement practices has uncovered.
Concerns have
also been raised with a similar approach used to source a funding case for a
future stage of the myGov update, with the subsequent contract with Nous Group
increasing to “40 times its original value” in two years after a procurement
process that fell short of “ethical behaviour requirements”.
Both
procurements were probed by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in its
audit released on Wednesday, which revealed the DTA failed
to follow the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) on nine key procurements
worth almost $55 million.
Deloitte was
contracted to deliver “enhancements to the myGov portal” under the ‘myGov
Upgrade Horizon 1’ procurement in March 2020, having initially
handed it $1 million to develop a prototype for a new government digital
experience platform, dubbed GovDXP.
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https://www.croakey.org/digital-technologies-in-mental-healthcare-creating-opportunities-for-better-care-or-a-new-form-of-asylum/
Digital technologies in mental healthcare: creating
opportunities for better care, or a new form of asylum?
·
Alison Barrett
·
Piers Gooding and Simon Katterl
·
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Introduction
by Croakey: With a rapid increase in the use of digital technology in
healthcare, it is critical the technologies are implemented in a careful and
safe way, particularly in the area of mental healthcare.
While digital
technology provides some benefits for mental healthcare, such as anonymous help-seeking,
some challenges exist in establishing these benefits, according to Dr Piers
Gooding and Simon Katterl, co-authors of a new report.
Below,
Gooding and Katterl outline some of the challenges including privacy and
surveillance concerns, whether users are able to provide meaningful consent,
and the immense influence of Big Tech interests, including Elon Musk and
Meta/Facebook.
They argue
for stronger protection of users’ privacy and human rights, accountability and
the inclusion of people with lived experience of mental health and healthcare
into all stages of development.
“When people
use digital mental health technologies, they should be safe and secure,” they
write.
Piers Gooding and Simon Katterl write:
Mental
healthcare is becoming increasingly digital, giving rise to competing visions
for the future of our mental health systems.
In one world,
new technologies help expand our best responses to mental distress and crises,
with digital technologies selectively introduced to augment care in genuinely
helpful ways.
In another
future, the worst features of the current system are expanded by new
technological possibilities, to create a kind of digital asylum for the 21st
century, based on control and surveillance.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/hacked-optus-data-goes-back-five-years/news-story/8528e08701c90e7d466c1a180699bae4
Hacked Optus data goes back five years
David Swan
David Ross
6:15AM
September 24, 2022
Hackers have
obtained personal customer data dating back as far as five years, the Optus
chief executive has revealed, as she delivered an emotional mea culpa for a
massive data breach that has affected up to 10 million customers.
Kelly Bayer
Rosmarin said on Friday that current and former customers from 2017 have been
caught up in the cyber attack, which has been linked to hackers using European
IP addresses.
The hackers
have stolen the passport, driver’s licence and phone numbers of up to 2.8
million customers – most of whom are yet to be contacted – in one of the
largest data breaches in the nation’s history. Up to another seven million
Optus users had their dates of birth and email addresses stolen.
The executive
was on the verge of tears when asked how she felt about the data breach occurring
under her leadership.
-----
https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/hacking/cyber-expert-explains-how-optus-users-will-know-theyve-been-hacked/news-story/bdeca08f7f6a185ca3f2107992b75904
Cyber expert explains how Optus users will know they’ve
been hacked
A cyber
expert has explained how Optus customers will know they’ve been hacked, after
the telco suffered a major cyber attack that left millions compromised.
Anton Nilsson and Adelaide
Lang
September 24,
2022 - 8:58AM
Whether it’s
an email from Optus or a flurry of spam from fraudsters, anyone caught up in
the telco’s cyberattack should find out soon enough.
Millions of
Australians may have had their personal information stolen and sold by the
cybercriminals behind this week’s massive attack against Optus.
People’s
names, dates of birth, phone numbers, and email addresses have been exposed,
Optus has confirmed.
Some current
and former customers have even had their passport or driver’s licence numbers
compromised.
The people
worst affected are likely to hear from Optus first, the telco’s chief executive
said on Friday.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/national/now-you-know-tiktok-is-bombarding-our-teenagers-with-fake-news-20220920-p5bjms.html
Now you know: TikTok is bombarding our teenagers with
fake news
Columnist
September 24, 2022 — 5.00am
The
other day my teenager told me an interesting story.
“Kids
in the US are barking in class,” she said, “and the teachers aren’t allowed to
discipline them because they have to respect their gender identity as animals.”
I
frowned. The story sounded fake. “Where did you learn this?” I asked.
“Online,”
she said cheerily.
I
hit Google and did some research. The story wasn’t true. It was born of a fake
news item on YouTube, clearly designed to send the message that “gender
politics has gone mad!”
But
my daughter didn’t see the story on YouTube, or even Facebook, those bastions
of misinformation. She saw it on TikTok.
I
have long been aware of the dangers of TikTok. Its parent company is ByteDance,
whose major stakeholder is the Chinese Communist Party. There have been
repeated calls
for TikTok to be banned in Western countries, due to privacy and
data sharing concerns.
But
until recently the content on TikTok seemed relatively benign. Sure, there were
the odd dangerous “challenges” (Tide Pods, anyone?) but with its dance
routines, comedy videos, makeup tutorials and Booktoks, for the most part, it
was innocuous fun.
-----
https://www.afr.com/technology/optus-ceo-gets-on-the-front-foot-in-a-no-win-situation-20220923-p5bkgf
Optus CEO gets on the front foot in a no-win situation
Optus boss
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin fronted a media pack keen to get details on a hugely
damaging cyber attack, even though she openly had no idea what all the answers
should be.
Paul SmithTechnology editor
Sep 23, 2022
– 12.50pm
Optus
chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin found herself in an unenviable position on
Friday morning after a significant
cyber breach of the telco’s systems caused panic among many of its
11 million customers.
Morning
TV news shows went big on the story on Friday, introducing commentators to warn
punters – of varying degrees of tech-savvy – that they need to be vigilant in
checking that their various accounts are not being ripped off.
How
they do that is another matter, of which nobody has any fool-proof answers.
In
that context, Bayer Rosmarin made a courageous and correct call to get in front
of the media in a video call that felt strangely intimate and completely open.
Journalists’
questions were in plain view in a text box, meaning she could not dodge the
tricky ones. She made no attempt to hide the fact that this was a mess, and
that she did not have many answers about how it all happened.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/what-we-know-about-the-optus-hack-so-far-and-what-customers-should-do-20220923-p5bkfc.html
What we know about the Optus hack so far - and what
customers should do
By Nick Bonyhady
September 23, 2022 — 10.06am
What
has happened?
Optus
detected
a cyberattack on its systems on Wednesday. Hackers accessed the data
of up to 9 million people, including names, addresses, phone numbers and email
addresses for many along with driver’s license numbers and passport numbers for
a smaller group. The hack was disclosed on Thursday afternoon. The hackers’ access
has been removed but just how much data was stolen and why is not yet known.
What
is Optus doing about it?
Its
chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has apologised to customers and said she
was “devastated” by the attack. It has shut down the hackers’ access and called
in the Australian Cyber Security Centre, a government agency that works with
the nation’s top online spies, to help assess the hack and trace its source.
The federal police, privacy regulators and banks have also been notified. SIM
card swaps, replacements and ownership changes have been paused online for
Optus customers. They can only be done in store as a precaution against fraud.
Should
Optus customers change their passwords or credit card details?
So
far, there is no indication from Optus that password or financial data was
compromised. Instead, users should be vigilant about requests that they don’t
recognise to change those details because it could be an indication someone is
impersonating them with data that was stolen.
What
should customers do?
Be
wary. Keep an eye out for offers, customer support calls or even scam warnings
that ask for approvals or passwords. Even if these use your real name or phone
number and appear to come from a company that isn’t Optus, they could be
exploiting data from the hack. Verify any communications by independently
contacting the company that appears to have sent them. Never click on
suspicious links. Do not give out passwords.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/meet-the-woman-remaking-a-government-mega-agency-20220919-p5bjam
Meet the woman remaking a government mega-agency
After
reaching a low with robo-debt, Services Australia is being reborn with a
powerful new tech platform and a focus on being a trusted provider of services.
Tom Burton Government
editor
Sep 22, 2022
– 10.38am
The night of
Sunday, September 4, was a make or break moment for Services Australia chief
executive Rebecca Skinner.
After years
of planning, brand research and $200 million of technical development, the
myGov accounts of 24 million Australians were due to be transferred to a new service portal.
Following
almost a decade of derision, the clunky, “work horse” green myGov website was
finally being retired, in favour of what Skinner describes as a bright fresh
blue for Australia’s largest authenticated website. Beyond the paint job, the
myGov site, which brings together a diaspora of high-volume government services
such as Centrelink, Medicare, the Australian Taxation Office and personal
health records, received a massive technological overhaul.
Built on
mainframe technologies, the old site was well past its technical use-by date.
Too often it had been overwhelmed, most recently in March 2020 when nearly
90,000 people tried to access the site after national cabinet suddenly shut the
country down to stop the spread of COVID-19.
-----
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/optus-attack-exposes-customer-information-585567
Optus attack exposes customer information
By Ry Crozier on Sep
22, 2022 2:51PM
Personal details of 1.1 million customers purportedly
offered for sale.
Optus
has suffered a cyber attack and data breach involving the details of potentially
millions of customers, with “a subset” having their identity documentation
exposed.
The
Australian reported Thursday that “about 2.8 million” customers
had personal details exposed in the attack, though Optus has not put any
numbers out publicly on the impacted cohort.
Early
on Friday, Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow posted a screenshot on Twitter that
purported to show a database of 1.1 million Optus customers' details,
comprising names, email addresses and mobile numbers.
It
had been offered for sale since September 17.
An
Optus spokesperson declined to confirm the number to iTnews, saying
an investigation is still underway.
-----
https://www.jmir.org/2022/9/e35772
Digital Health Literacy as a Predictor of Awareness,
Engagement, and Use of a National Web-Based Personal Health Record:
Population-Based Survey Study
Digital Health Literacy as a Predictor of Awareness,
Engagement, and Use of a National Web-Based Personal Health Record:
Population-Based Survey Study
Authors
of this article:
Christina
Cheng 1 ; Emma
Gearon 2 ; Melanie
Hawkins 1 ; Crystal
McPhee 3 ; Lisa
Hanna 4 ; Roy
Batterham 5 ; Richard
H Osborne 1
Abstract
Background:
Web-based personal
health records (PHRs) have the potential to improve the quality, accuracy, and
timeliness of health care. However, the international uptake of web-based PHRs
has been slow. Populations experiencing disadvantages are less likely to use
web-based PHRs, potentially widening health inequities within and among
countries.
Objective:
With limited
understanding of the predictors of community uptake and use of web-based PHR,
the aim of this study was to identify the predictors of awareness, engagement,
and use of the Australian national web-based PHR, My Health Record (MyHR).
Methods:
A population-based
survey of adult participants residing in regional Victoria, Australia, was
conducted in 2018 using telephone interviews. Logistic regression, adjusted for
age, was used to assess the relationship among digital health literacy, health
literacy, and demographic characteristics, and the 3 dependent variables of
MyHR: awareness, engagement, and use. Digital health literacy and health
literacy were measured using multidimensional tools, using all 7 scales of the
eHealth Literacy Questionnaire and 4 out of the 9 scales of the Health Literacy
Questionnaire.
Results:
A total of 998 responses
were analyzed. Many elements of digital health literacy were strongly
associated with MyHR awareness, engagement, and use. A 1-unit increase in each
of the 7 eHealth Literacy Questionnaire scales was associated with a 2- to
4-fold increase in the odds of using MyHR: using technology to process
health information (odds ratio [OR] 4.14, 95% CI 2.34-7.31), understanding
of health concepts and language (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.08-4.69), ability
to actively engage with digital services (OR 4.44, 95% CI
2.55-7.75), feel safe and in control (OR 2.36, 95% CI
1.43-3.88), motivated to engage with digital services (OR
4.24, 95% CI 2.36-7.61), access to digital services that work (OR
2.49, 95% CI 1.32-4.69), and digital services that suit individual
needs (OR 3.48, 95% CI 1.97-6.15). The Health Literacy
Questionnaire scales of health care support, actively managing health, and
social support were also associated with a 1- to 2-fold increase in the odds of
using MyHR. Using the internet to search for health information was another
strong predictor; however, older people and those with less education were less
likely to use MyHR.
Conclusions:
This study revealed
strong and consistent patterns of association between digital health literacy
and the use of a web-based PHR. The results indicate potential actions for
promoting PHR uptake, including improving digital technology and skill
experiences that may improve digital health literacy and willingness to engage
in web-based PHR. Uptake may also be improved through more responsive digital
services, strengthened health care, and better social support. A holistic
approach, including targeted solutions, is needed to ensure that web-based PHR
can realize its full potential to help reduce health inequities.
J Med Internet Res 2022;24(9):e35772
doi:10.2196/35772
-----
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=929715c2-8a1f-4550-a4aa-0ed0b6b02a80
Genetic information - global privacy considerations -
an Australian and UK perspective
DLA Piper - Eliza Saunders, James Clark, Sarah Birkett
and Senal
Premarathna
Australia, European Union, United Kingdom September 20 2022
Introduction
The
benefits of using genetic information for research purposes are clear,
especially as the technology underpinning medical research continues to advance
at such a rapid pace. Outside of research and clinical development, the number
of organisations which use blood and saliva samples and other genetic
information for diagnostic and treatment purposes, as well as ancestry
research, has exponentially increased.
When
an individual provides a genetic sample, whether as part of a medical
treatment, a clinical trial or in connection with ancestry research, what
regimes are in place to protect his or her privacy?
In
this article we examine, by way of example, the differing regimes in place in
Australia and the UK.
-----
https://wildhealth.net.au/the-future-will-see-you-now/
21 September
2022
The future will see you now
AI
By Fran Molloy
Artificial
intelligence (AI) is making inroads across most fields of medicine, and its
inevitable use in rheumatology heralds the potential for more widespread access
and reduced workloads for specialists, along with improved screening, diagnosis
and treatment for patients.
However, the
use of AI in clinical practice also raises many legitimate concerns, from the
risks of relying on an often-opaque decision-making process, to the potential
for AI to magnify incorrect assumptions and biases, and the concerns of
patients about its safety.
Rheumatologist
and ARA spokesperson on technology, Professor Rebecca Grainger, says that while
many clinicians may be understandably apprehensive about the introduction of
AI, she sees it as another very useful tool to help understand disease.
She says that
AI’s role in practice will provide similar utility to that of peer-reviewed
clinical studies.
“Previously,
we’ve used statistical methods in academic studies to help us understand
patterns and associations around disease, and to consider how the findings
might apply to our own setting.
-----
https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/news/new-wearable-device-monitors-tumour-size-1042936061
New wearable device monitors tumour size
Wednesday, 21 September, 2022
Engineers
at Stanford University have created a small, autonomous device with a
stretchable and flexible sensor that can be adhered to the skin to measure the
changing size of tumours below. The non-invasive, battery-operated device is
sensitive to one-hundredth of a millimetre (10 micrometres) and can beam
results to a smartphone app wirelessly in real time with the press of a button.
In
practical terms, the researchers say, their device — termed FAST for ‘Flexible
Autonomous Sensor measuring Tumours’ — represents a new, fast, inexpensive,
hands-free and accurate way to test the efficacy of cancer drugs. On a larger
scale, it could lead to promising new directions in cancer treatment. FAST is
detailed in a paper published in Science Advances.
FAST’s
sensor is composed of a flexible and stretchable skin-like polymer that
includes an embedded layer of gold circuitry. When stretched the layer of gold
develops small cracks that change the electrical conductivity of the material.
Stretch the material and the number of cracks increases, causing the electronic
resistance in the sensor to increase as well. When the material contracts, the
cracks come back into contact and conductivity improves.
This
sensor is connected to a small electronic backpack designed by former postdocs
and co-authors Yasser Khan and Naoji Matsuhisa. The device measures the strain
on the membrane — how much it stretches or shrinks — and transmits that data to
a smartphone. Using the FAST backpack, potential therapies that are linked to
tumour size regression can quickly and confidently be excluded as ineffective
or fast-tracked for further study.
-----
https://wildhealth.net.au/winning-wearables-trump-style-over-stigma/
21 September
2022
Winning wearables trump style over stigma
Interoperability
Technology
By Wendy John
Health
tech designer Associate Professor Leah Heiss
took out the Australian Women in Design trophy at Friday’s Good Design Awards
2022.
The
Monash University Professor has designed a portfolio of human-centred wearables
including jewel-like hearing aids, ornate necklaces that monitor cardiac status
and chic diabetes jewellery to administer insulin.
Although
she draws from fields such as nanotechnology and manufacturing, Professor Heiss
fundamentally takes a co-design approach that leverages the patient’s lived experience.
This
ethos also informs her work with the World Health Organisation
(WHO) to improve the uptake and implementation of WHO guidelines, particularly
in developing nations.
“My
practice is focused on the lived experience of health systems, services and
technologies. And I do feel like at some point those things will converge, for
example in how the big systems work and the wearables work. We’re not quite
there yet. But we’re getting pretty close,” Professor Heiss said.
-----
https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/design-in-health/article/health-tech-innovator-bags-design-award-581247690
Health-tech innovator bags design award
Tuesday, 20 September, 2022
Leah
Heiss, a health-tech innovator and Associate Professor, Monash University, has
been awarded the 2022 Australian Women in Design Award at this year’s Good Design Awards
for her work across wearable health technologies and healthcare co-design.
Heiss
is currently working on redesigning the experience of health care in Australia
as a part of the Future
Hospital Future Health Initiative. She is working with the World
Health Organization to improve the uptake and implementation of WHO guidelines,
particularly in developing nations. Her wearable health technologies include a
jewel-like hearing aid, jewellery to administer insulin, jewellery to monitor
cardiac events, swallowable devices to detect disease and emergency jewellery
for times of medical crisis.
The
award recognises women at the top of their field and seeks to encourage a more
diverse and equal representation in design and creative industries, where women
account for less than 17 of executive leadership roles.
Heiss
said she was honoured to receive the award that seeks to address the gender
imbalance within leadership roles in the design industry.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/facebook-pulls-out-all-stops-to-delay-cryptocurrency-scam-case-20220919-p5bj8c.html
Facebook pulls out all stops to delay cryptocurrency
scam case
By Nick Bonyhady
September 19,
2022 — 7.45pm
Facebook
owner Meta’s attempt to suppress documents from the consumer watchdog’s
litigation over cryptocurrency investment scams has run into turbulence, but it
has made a fresh attempt to delay proceedings in the Federal Court.
The setback
comes as Meta battles a similar claim in Western Australia from Australia’s
richest man, mining magnate Andrew Forrest. The social media giant has previously
alleged that the WA state court had “no jurisdiction” to adjudicate on the
matter.
A Federal
Court judge is yet to rule on Meta’s latest claim, but has already partially
rejected an attempt by the company to have court documents in the ACCC case
kept secret.
In a
September 9 ruling, Justice David Yates described aspects of Meta’s tactics as
“strange” and “unfortunate” and said its claim that the state case was outside
jurisdiction conflicted with its other claim that documents should be kept from
public view to avoid prejudicing a potential trial.
Forrest
announced in February he had taken the rare step of launching a private
criminal case in the WA Magistrates’ Court against Meta for allegedly
failing to stop cryptocurrency investment scams that used his name and image.
The Federal Court has been told a trial could be two and a half years away.
-----
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3673249/as-telehealth-use-plummets-the-healthcare-industry-faces-a-crossroads.html
As telehealth use plummets, the healthcare industry
faces a crossroads
COVID-19 forced many medical providers to roll out
telehealth technology to handle remote. But as the pandemic has waned, so has
the use of virtual care, leaving the healthcare industry to decide whether to
fall back on old methods or move forward.
By Lucas Mearian
Senior
Reporter, Computerworld | 12 September 2022 20:00 AEST
After
reaching historically high adoption rates during the height of the COVID-19
pandemic, the use of telehealth services has plummeted since the beginning of
the year.
Experts
say that places the healthcare industry at a fork in the road, where providers,
payors, and tech companies must choose whether to embrace an effective and
convenient healthcare medium or be left behind as telehealth marches forward.
The
road toward adoption of telehealth — the use of electronic communications to
provide care and other services — has been long. Before the COVID-19 pandemic
took hold in 2020, the adoption rate in the US, nearly 60 years after telehealth technology was first
introduced, was just 0.9% of outpatient visits.
In
first few weeks of the pandemic, however, the percentage of virtual healthcare
visits jumped to 52%, according to Mark Gilbert, senior director analyst for
Healthcare Strategy at research firm Gartner. “In that five weeks, there
was no time for strategic planning or business cases; there were no time for
[requests for proposals], or any of that stuff that goes into normal
procurement process of a technology platform,” Gilbert said. “It was just, ‘Get
it done. Make it happen.’”
-----
https://itwire.com/it-people-news/education/cypher-learning,-drone-operations-partner-on-drone-training-for-schools.html
Monday, 19 September 2022 12:51
Cypher Learning, Drone Operations partner on drone
training for schools
By Staff
Writer
Intelligent
learning platforms for schools, universities and organisations provider Cypher
Learning has announced the successful implementation of its MATRIX learning
platform for Australian schools drone training provider Drone Operations .
The Gold
Coast-based training organisation Drone Operations provides specialised drone
training in private and public schools across Australia in the Civil Aviation
Safety Authority (CASA) Excluded Category, which includes under 2kg remote
piloted aircraft (RPA).
Cypher
Learning says the partnership empowers schools with state of the art
learning materials, as students work towards obtaining the AVI30419 Certificate
III in Aviation (Remote Pilot) - MW training RTO: 2510 using Drone
Operations resources to deliver and assess all learners.
“Drones offer
a different perspective for the pilot and opens up a new realm of possibilities
in disaster response, meteorology, science & research, even film and
video,” said Graham Glass, CEO and Founder of Cypher Learning. “We’re excited
to be such an integral part of the journey with Drone Operations to bolster its
offerings, as Australia becomes one of the leading cradles for drone
applications and development.”
-----
David.
