Friday, November 08, 2019


I think we are starting to get a picture of behaviors OCR will not tolerate.
OCR Imposes a $1.6 Million Civil Money Penalty against Texas Health and Human Services Commission for HIPAA Violations
On June 11, 2015, DADS filed a breach report with OCR stating that the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 6,617 individuals was viewable over the internet, including names, addresses, social security numbers, and treatment information. The breach occurred when an internal application was moved from a private, secure server to a public server and a flaw in the software code allowed access to ePHI without access credentials. OCR's investigation determined that, in addition to the impermissible disclosure, DADS failed to conduct an enterprise-wide risk analysis, and implement access and audit controls on its information systems and applications as required by the HIPAA Security Rule. Because of inadequate audit controls, DADS was unable to determine how many unauthorized persons accessed individuals' ePHI.
"Covered entities need to know who can access protected health information in their custody at all times," said OCR Director Roger Severino.




Perspective. Census.gov estimates the US population at 330 million. That’s only 78% DHS.
DHS will have comprehensive biometric data on more than 250 million people
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expects to have face, fingerprint, and iris scans of at least 259 million people [Quartz – paywall] in its biometrics database by 2022, according to a recent presentation from the agency’s Office of Procurement Operations reviewed by Quartz. From the report: That’s about 40 million more than the agency’s 2017 projections, which estimated 220 million unique identities by 2022, according to previous figures cited by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based privacy rights nonprofit.
A slide deck, shared with attendees at an Oct. 30 DHS industry day, includes a breakdown of what its systems currently contain, as well as an estimate of what the next few years will bring. The agency is transitioning from a legacy system called IDENT to a cloud-based system (hosted by Amazon Web Services) known as Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology, or HART. The biometrics collection maintained by DHS is the world’s second-largest, behind only India’s countrywide biometric ID network in size. The traveler data kept by DHS is shared with other U.S. agencies, state and local law enforcement, as well as foreign governments…”




Didn’t they agree this would be fair? (Why else allow it?) But if the outcome is not as they expected, perhaps that’s because they (and I include Google) don’t understand the industry?
EU's Vestager says Google's antitrust proposal not helping shopping rivals
Alphabet unit Google’s proposal to create a level playing field for price comparison shopping rivals to stave off fresh fines has not led to more traffic for its competitors, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Thursday.
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager two years ago slapped Google with a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.65 billion)fine for favoring its own price comparison shopping service and told it to stop its anti-competitive business practices.
The world’s most popular internet search engine subsequently offered to allow competitors to bid for advertising space at the top of a search page, giving them the chance to compete on equal terms.




Perspective. Is this the new minimum offer?
This State’s 50-Year Bet on Big Tech Could Cost Hundreds of Millions of Dollars
a new law he helped pass, which eliminates sales taxes for an unprecedented five decades for a company that commits at least $750 million to a data center in his state.
Although finished data centers provide relatively few jobs, a construction boom is an attractive prospect in parts of the deindustrializing Midwest with few alternatives. Facebook has said it would spend $16 billion on data centers in 2019 alone; Google, $13 billion, and Apple, $4.5 billion. Together, these three companies, plus Microsoft and Amazon, accounted for the bulk of the $119 billion invested in data centers worldwide last year, according to Synergy Research Group.
In Indiana, where the state sales tax is 7%, the new law guarantees at least $70 million in savings to a company that commits to building a $1 billion facility. The law also waives taxes on electricity use, worth additional millions in savings, and municipalities are certain to add further incentives as they bid against one another.




I expect “safe living” Apps, like those “safe driving” Apps insurance companies offer. And for the same reason. If they can confirm that you will cost them 50% less than the average insured, they will happily reduce you premium by 25%.
How Entrepreneurs Can Take on the Future of Aging Using Artificial Intelligence
Thanks to daily advances in healthcare technology, people are living longer and longer. As a nation, we're nearing a historic first: It is predicted by the year 2034 that there will be more people over the age of 65 than people under the age of 18.




When highways are limited to self-driving cars, will you be willing to retrofit your 1926 Bugatti in order to drive on them?
Ghost raises $63.7 million to develop an aftermarket kit that gives cars self-driving capabilities
… Ghost today emerged from stealth after spending two years and change developing an aftermarket self-driving kit to retrofit existing cars. It has raised $63.7 million in capital to date from Founders Fund’s Keith Rabois, Khosla Ventures’ Vinod Khosla, and Sutter Hill Ventures’ Mike Speiser, and it’s promising compatibility with 20 “popular” car models from 2012 onward when its product launches next year.




Perhaps something for my next presentation Rubric?
Get Instant Feedback on Your Presentations With Presenter Coach
Presenter Coach is found in the online version of PowerPoint that anyone can use with a free Microsoft account. Presenter Coach will give you feedback on the pacing of your presentations, your use of filler words, and your use of sensitive phrases. In the following video I demonstrate how to use Presenter Coach in PowerPoint.



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