Desired SSA shift to more online service delivery may require changes in policy or new technologies for identity proofing and authentication

The Social Security Administration (SSA), citing an increased volume of claims and requests for its services, is evaluating ways to conduct more of its transactions online. Before making such a move SSA needs first to establish…

Health IT advisory committees covering same ground, sometimes without coordination

Both of the two federal health IT advisory committees working in support of the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) have taken up discussion on patient privacy and consent management, working through the respective privacy and…

FTC, Congress trying to make commercial privacy more manageable

In two separate developments this week we see efforts from both the executive and legislative branches intended to make it easier for financial institutions to comply with regulations on privacy practices required under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act…

Sharing data in EHR systems without consumer preferences may lead to information withholding

An unintended, if not wholly unexpected, consequence of the health care industry’s heavily incentivized move towards use of electronic health records and sharing data contained in those records appears to be a greater likelihood that individuals…

Is the recent focus on the “cyberwar” intended to build support for more government monitoring?

Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano emphasized in her keynote speech at the RSA conference last week the need for greater collaboration between the government and private sector in order to effectively address cybersecurity challenges facing the…

More calls for government action on Internet security

During yesterday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, a panel of security experts urged the government to do more to push public and private sector action on critical infrastructure protection and Internet…

Simulated cyber attack exercise demonstrates gaps in policies and skills

Responses to a simulation yesterday of a large-scale cyber attack that supposed a widespread malware infection has shut down cell phone and computer networks and disabled much of the power grid showed a lack of preparedness…