Ryan Gallagher, The Intercept: “…The mass surveillance operation — code-named KARMA POLICE — was launched by British spies about seven years ago without any public debate or scrutiny. It was just one part of a giant global Internet spying apparatus built by the United Kingdom’s electronic eavesdropping agency, Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ…The surveillance is underpinned by an opaque legal regime that has authorized GCHQ to sift through huge archives of metadata about the private phone calls, emails and Internet browsing logs of Brits, Americans, and any other citizens — all without a court order or judicial warrant. Metadata reveals information about a communication — such as the sender and recipient of an email, or the phone numbers someone called and at what time — but not the written content of the message or the audio of the call. As of 2012, GCHQ was storing about 50 billion metadata records about online communications and Web browsing activity every day, with plans in place to boost capacity to 100 billion daily by the end of that year. The agency, under cover of secrecy, was working to create what it said would soon be the biggest government surveillance system anywhere in the world…”
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Daily Archives: September 26, 2015
HHS OIG Audit of MIDAS – central system managing citizen health care insurance data
Public Summary Report: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Implementation of Security Controls Over the Multidimensional Insurance Data Analytics System Needs Improvement (A-06-14-00067). September 21, 2015. “This summary report provides an overview of the results of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) review of the Multidimensional Insurance Data Analytics System (MIDAS). It does not… Continue Reading
24/7 Wall St – Richest and Poorest School Districts
“Many factors determine the quality of education in a particular state, including federal, state, and local funding levels, the curriculum, and teacher and staff quality. A district’s wealth, however, is often a very good indicator of how well the area’s students are likely to perform. In San Perlita, Texas, the poorest school district in the… Continue Reading
Creating a 21st-Century Medical Device Surveillance System
“The Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a hearing in response to public concerns about Essure, a nonsurgical, permanent female sterilization device. Since FDA approved the product in 2002, the agency has received reports on 5,093 adverse events, including six deaths. The hearing coincides with a landmark event for medical device safety: the compliance date… Continue Reading
UNESCO calls to combat online and offline violence against women and girls
“On 24 September 2015, the United Nations Broadband Commission’s Working Group on Gender released its report on combatting cyber violence against women at United Nations Headquarters in New York. UNESCO’s Director-General, Ms Irina Bokova, serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission alongside ITU Secretary-General, Mr Houlin Zhao. The report aims to mobilize the public… Continue Reading
Administrative data collection by nations poses privacy concerns for public and researchers
Nature – Researchers wrestle with a privacy problem – The data contained in tax returns, health and welfare records could be a gold mine for scientists — but only if they can protect people’s identities. “…In the past few years, administrative data have been used to investigate issues ranging from the side effects of vaccines… Continue Reading
