US Hospitals mine patient records in search of customers

USA Today reported that US hospitals are data mining their patient records to promote lucrative health services.

Health information such as smoking history or past medical problems is being combined with consumer credit information to determine who might have need for services and the ability to pay.  Continue reading

Federal government may have violated privacy of new citizens

Phone blitz to get people to attend photo op used private information for non authorized use

Citizens were phone solicited to attend Sun Media

The scandal around Minister Jason Kenny having Immigration Canada staff pose as new Canadians for a promotional “news” video got a little deeper today.

The Globe and Mail reported that Immigration staff were told by the Ministers office to find new Canadians to attend the staged ceremony.  Continue reading

Lawsuit against US FDA raises email privacy questions

FDA whistle-blowers say agency violated their rights by extensively monitoring personal communications


Computerworld – A recent lawsuit filed against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is drawing attention to the question of whether employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using personal email accounts on workplace computers.

The lawsuit was filed last week by six whistle-blowers at the FDA who allege that their private emails were extensively monitored after they began complaining to lawmakers about serious irregularities in the agency’s medical device review process.  Continue reading