It’s a scary thought: You and your friends are marching for gun control, climate action or social justice when a crime happens a mile or two away. Now you and the thousands of people who attended are suspects. And guess who turned you in: Google.
That’s because Google knows where you are right now, even if location tracking on your Google apps is turned off. And the company is handing over your location information to law enforcement agencies.
Google calls this program “Sensorvault” and its use by law enforcement for nearly 10 years was a well-kept secret until the New York Times recently exposed Google’s operation.
The truly troubling part is that you don’t have to be involved in a crime to be targeted by the police when you’re in the vicinity of a crime. Google’s Sensorvault stores your minute-by-minute travel via the Google apps on your mobile phone. One chief of police even boasted that Google can go beyond just a single location to show your “pattern of life.“
There are some ways you may be able to protect yourself from Google’s surveillance program. One word of caution: This solution isn’t foolproof, because Google could still be tracking your whereabouts, even after taking these steps....
It’s a scary thought: You and your friends are marching for gun control, climate action or social justice when a crime happens a mile or two away. Now you and the thousands of people who attended are suspects. ...
No more so than everybody living or working within the mile or two area would be. More realistic is that a suspect or suspects are identified and then Google is used to check locations for those suspects. No way is anybody going to ask Google for "everyone with two miles of the crime" and then start investigating each one. In practice, it doesn't look much different from using cellphone location records from the phone company.
I did not write that, I'm more concerned with the repression of dissent potential than with coincidental crimes, and we have seen how cellphone location records can be abused.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
I did not write that, I'm more concerned with the repression of dissent potential than with coincidental crimes, and we have seen how cellphone location records can be abused.
Sorry. I know that was in the article. Formatting opps.
What process is there that can't possibly be abused?
Big brother and Google will have to work hard to track my activity; I have no smart phone, no Facebook, no Twitter, no apps, and few opps. I figure the most they can find out is what I buy, and even then, I sometimes buy shit that I don't want, need, or use just to throw them off the trail. Also, for the past several years I've been making counterfeit money, but only in quarters. All one needs is the two dies for the front and back and some nickel plated zinc discs, a good hammer (punch), and a steady hand. The most difficult part is the reeded edge of the discs. On a good day, one can pound out 600 quarters, or $150 as well as getting some good exercise in the process. As far as I know, nobody's ever been suspected, accused, charged, or convicted of making fake coins.
"HIPAA is out of date. Google and other tech companies are taking advantage of outdated laws and making moves that violate patients' privacy. It is long past time to update privacy laws for the digital age. We urge you to update HIPAA immediately and protect us all from exploitation."
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
(Yawn) There isn't likely a HIPAA violation, as Google is no different from any other data management entity that a medical provider contracts with to handle records and reporting, except that the authors and petition producers seem to have a major hard-on for Google specifically. It appears that rather than some evil Google data-grabbing project, it was originally an Ascension idea and probably has more good than evil.
From one of the footnote articles:
Already, the two organizations are testing software that allows medical providers to search a patient’s electronic health record by specific data categories and create graphs of the information, like blood test results over time, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times. The aim is to give medical professionals better access to patient data, to improve patient care and, ultimately, to try to glean insights from the data to help treatment.
Sounds pretty evil to me.
If they want HIPAA updated, maybe do something about allowing transmission of information via fax but not email.
(Yawn) There isn't likely a HIPAA violation, as Google is no different from any other data management entity that a medical provider contracts with to handle records and reporting, except that the authors and petition producers seem to have a major hard-on for Google specifically. It appears that rather than some evil Google data-grabbing project, it was originally an Ascension idea and probably has more good than evil.
From one of the footnote articles:
Already, the two organizations are testing software that allows medical providers to search a patient’s electronic health record by specific data categories and create graphs of the information, like blood test results over time, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times. The aim is to give medical professionals better access to patient data, to improve patient care and, ultimately, to try to glean insights from the data to help treatment.
Sounds pretty evil to me.
If they want HIPAA updated, maybe do something about allowing transmission of information via fax but not email.
:?:
They're not alleging "a HIPAA violation," other than to say that "That claim is currently being investigated" by that liberal bastion, 45SHOLE's HHS. They are saying that HIPAA needs an update.
Several companies besides Google are mentioned in the linked NYT article. Google's just the current leader.
Legit medical uses are not an issue, Google going far beyond that is and informed consent are. Even employees of Ascension, Google's business partner, are raising concerns about things that Google is doing.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
As you know, HIPAA contains provisions for handling breaches, with a lot of detail. It is also long on detail as to what types of protections are required for Protected Health Information, and who and under what circumstances PHI can be disclosed. You probably also recall that an early purpose of HIPAA was to get medical providers and payers on a compatible electronic processing procedure, which helped to spring some life into the claims processing and third-party billing management industry. The first two letter in the acronym are "HI" for "health insurance." The privacy provisions came along after the billing management part, but in any case, HIPAA deals with the various processes involved in billing and paying health insurance claims and the ways relevant data can be disclosed and used. One big target of the use restrictions in HIPAA was the sale of health information to third (and fourth and fifth) parties for their own marketing or whatever. If your spouse had a stroke, you might get an unsolicited call from somebody wanting to sell re-hab services. Most of that has been cut out. HIPAA also redefined ownership of individual medical records. Used to be the medical provider owned the record - after HIPAA, the patient owns the record and is entitled to copies, etc.
So yeah, if Google or whoever improperly discloses the penalties should be higher than they are. HIPAA enforcers should be more in number and have more teeth. But if you're a big hospital conglomerate and want to manage, use, and protect the vast amount of data you generate, you're not going to get it done by Numbers Crunchers R Us out of Bumphuk, PA. And if you're a patient, you're probably happy for your providers to get their act together on your data, no matter who's providing the platform. When we go to a doctor or get tests or something from NCH Healthcare in Naples, everybody you go see knows who you are, what you're there for, and what you've had done somewhere else. And everything that you get done you can review online or download for somebody else. In comparison, several years ago Lady O had an appointment for a test in one office at Mission, then had another related part in another building and had to fill out patient info sheets (hard copy) both places!
Anyway, I couldn't get to the NYT article because it wanted a subscription or password. Used up my freebies, I guess. I did read the next cite down.
Funny, I can get past the first few paragraphs with WSJ or STAT unless I register. With NYT I just clear its cookies and I'm in.
The petition just requests a HIPAA update. Nothing wrong with that. If this HHS does one at all I'm sure it'll be weaker than either CREDO or I would like, but no harm in asking. It does single out Google, but new law or regs will have to apply universally.
Frankly, it's a losing fight. So many people having access means an equal number of potential holes in the dike. I'm not greedy, I believe in privacy and I loved my work, but if I had good reason to use records . . . and I likely would have gotten away with it. No, you did not hear about Franklin Graham's sex toy mishap from me.
I just figure it's best to make the impediments to abuse as strict as possible.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
I'm big on making life financially miserable for those who improperly disclose/use personal health data. I'm not so big on unduly restricting development of technology that could be very helpful based on some possibility that there could be some abuses.
Yeah, I know about deleting cookies, but for some reason I've been having a problem with Chrome. Every time I try to delete a cookie - actually even if I try to look at an individual cookie - Chrome crashes - closes completely. I've looked for solutions, found other people with the problem, but nobody, including Google, seems to have a real solution. For a while it was intermittent. Now it's always. Re-boots, etc. don't help. I guess Google is too busy selling Ascension PHI to work on their own product.
Funny, I can get past the first few paragraphs with WSJ or STAT unless I register. With NYT I just clear its cookies and I'm in.
The petition just requests a HIPAA update. Nothing wrong with that. If this HHS does one at all I'm sure it'll be weaker than either CREDO or I would like, but no harm in asking. It does single out Google, but new law or regs will have to apply universally.
Frankly, it's a losing fight. So many people having access means an equal number of potential holes in the dike. I'm not greedy, I believe in privacy and I loved my work, but if I had good reason to use records . . . and I likely would have gotten away with it. No, you did not hear about Franklin Graham's sex toy mishap from me.
I just figure it's best to make the impediments to abuse as strict as possible.
This supposed abuse of medical records was something the peaceful partier seemed to be obsessed over. Feverishly paranoid about it. It always made me wonder if pp suffered from an infinite number of ailments and afflictions or is possibly a raving psycho who would be terminally shunned or even arrested for being crazy should his/her psychiatrists records be accessed. I don't know what the big deal is; I pretty quickly assumed he/she was crazy.
... Partly due to exposure to a person with serious paranoia issues, I have always thought that much of the alarm about Big Brother has been unwarranted. It is based on the presumption by some that they are so important that anyone gives a flying fart what they say or do. And nobody seriously is going to delve into somebody else's minutiae unless they see a way of making a buck out of it.
At the same time, if you don't want to be tracked, either leave the cell phone at home, or take the battery out until you absolutely have to use it when leaving the house. Life is too short to see a boogey man behind every microprocessor.
...And nobody seriously is going to delve into somebody else's minutiae unless they see a way of making a buck out of it.
.... Life is too short to see a boogey man behind every microprocessor.
'Zactly.
Political dissidents, minorities and social rebels have a different perspective than you establishment guys do.
No doubt.
Sometimes just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean they're not really out to get you. And, of course, if they really are out to get you, paranoid is a survival skill.
So I made a cursory search for the origin of those quotes - may or may not have found it, but i did find some good paranoid quotes...
No doubt.
Sometimes just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean they're not really out to get you. And, of course, if they really are out to get you, paranoid is a survival skill.
So I made a cursory search for the origin of those quotes - may or may not have found it, but i did find some good paranoid quotes...
Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind
People think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time
All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify
Can you help me occupy my brain?
Oh yeah
I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find
I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind
Make a joke and I will sigh and you will laugh and I will cry
Happiness I cannot feel and love to me is so unreal
And so as you hear these words telling you now of my state
I tell you to enjoy life I wish I could but it's too late
But, maybe I'm just being paranoid .
Oh, and now I feel old, too.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
No doubt identify theft occurs, and no doubt some have been harmed by some malicious disclosure of their medical information. No doubt technology has been and can be used for nefarious reasons. But fear of all those things is, IMNVHO, greatly exaggerated along with and in the same way everything has become fear-driven especially since 9/11/2001. The fear-mongering industry is thriving and being successful probably beyond any expectation. You absolutely can't get through any local news show without them saying - at least once - "we'll tell you how to protect your family." Articles now no longer tell you "how your kid can have fun at summer camp," but instead tell you "things to beware of if you send your kid to camp." Want to know the most popular toys to buy for Christmas? Nope, but you can find easily the "most dangerous." "Worst Foods to Eat", "Most Dangerous Airlines," "Cities to Avoid" yada. I think it's likely that fear will overtake old age, cancer and heart disease as the leading cause of death.
