News Release: Senior ID Theft is Increasing

June 07, 2013

Washington, D. C. — Pam Dixon testified at a US Federal Trade Commission workshop event regarding the challenges seniors and their caregivers have in detecting, preventing, and handling the aftermath of medical identity theft. Dixon discussed how the crime impacts seniors in larger proportions than other parts of the population, and discussed WPF’s latest research and work on assisting seniors and their caregivers in resolving issues related to this crime.

Dixon mentioned several key issues unique to Seniors:

Medicare cards are a risk point for seniors, she said. For many seniors, they are generally requested to showing or hand over their Medicare card as they get health care goods or services. Dixon said to be sure the health care provider was legitimate prior to handing over the card.

Ask CMS to send a listing of benefits paid to Medicare recipients proactively. Be sure the address on file is accurate. Any questionable bills are important to flag and follow up on.

Be especially wary of materials that advertise free clinic visits, free food, free rides, or free medication specifically for seniors. While some provision of transportation and other free services is fine, in some instances the word “free” is often associated with Medicare scammers. The key is to be watchful and cautious about “free.”

For more information:

See the FTC Senior ID Theft program here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/senior-identity-theft/
See a video webcast of the FTC testimony here: http://www.ftc.gov/video-library/index.php/ftc-events/workshops/2013/senior-identity-theft-workshop-part-1/2365944697001?
See medical ID theft tips here: https://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2012/04/faq-medical-id-theft-victims-how-to-recover-from-medical-id-theft/
See the FTC’s Senior Medical ID Theft Tips: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0326-medical-id-theft-health-information-older-people

Posted June 7, 2013 in Consumer Tips, Health Privacy, Medical Identity Theft, News, Press, and Media, Senior privacy

New Report: Risky Analysis: Assessing and Improving AI Governance Tools

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new WPF report, “Risky Analysis: Assessing and Improving AI Governance Tools.” This report sets out a definition of AI governance tools, documents why and how these tools are critically important for trustworthy AI, and where these tools are around the world. The report also documents problems in some AI governance tools themselves, and suggests pathways to improve AI governance tools and create an evaluative environment to measure their effectiveness. AI systems should not be deployed without simultaneously evaluating the potential adverse impacts of such systems and mitigating their risks, and most of the world agrees about the need to take precautions against the threats posed. The specific tools and techniques that exist to evaluate and measure AI systems for their inclusiveness, fairness, explainability, privacy, safety and other trustworthiness issues — called in the report collectively AI governance tools – can improve such issues. While some AI governance tools provide reassurance to the public and to regulators, the tools too often lack meaningful oversight and quality assessments. Incomplete or ineffective AI governance tools can create a false sense of confidence, cause unintended problems, and generally undermine the promise of AI systems. The report contains rich background details, use cases, potential solutions to the problems discussed in the report, and a global index of AI Governance Tools.
National IDs Around the World — Interactive map

About this Data Visualization: This interactive map displays the presence...
Report: From the Filing Cabinet to the Cloud: Updating the Privacy Act of 1974

This comprehensive report and proposed bill text is focused on the Privacy Act of 1974, an important and early Federal privacy law that applies to the government sector and some contractors. The Privacy Act was written for the 1970s information era -- an era that was characterized by the use of mainframe computers and filing cabinets. Today's digital information era looks much different than the '70s: smart phones are smarter than the old mainframes, and documents are now routinely digitized and stored and perhaps even analyzed in the cloud, among many other changes. The report focuses on why the Privacy Act needs an update that will bring it into this century, and how that could look and work. This work was written by Robert Gellman, and informed by a two-year multi-stakeholder process.

News Release: Senior ID Theft is Increasing

For more information:

See the FTC Senior ID Theft program here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/senior-identity-theft/

See a video webcast of the FTC testimony here: http://www.ftc.gov/video-library/index.php/ftc-events/workshops/2013/senior-identity-theft-workshop-part-1/2365944697001?

See medical ID theft tips here: https://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2012/04/faq-medical-id-theft-victims-how-to-recover-from-medical-id-theft/

See the FTC’s Senior Medical ID Theft Tips: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0326-medical-id-theft-health-information-older-people