Data brokers — WPF will be speaking at the CFP conference on two panels. On June 15, Pam Dixon will participate in a plenary session on data brokers. On June 16, Dixon will moderate a health care privacy panel. This panel will focus on electronic health care in the state of California and the current privacy issues in electronic health exchange.
California health privacy — The World Privacy Forum, as co-chair of the California Privacy and Security Advisory Board, was pleased to vote on an opt-in privacy standard for Californians in the June CalPSAB board meeting. The standard will be part of a set of guidelines the state of California uses in its development of electronic health care records. This set of guidelines was the culmination of two years of policy work with the CalPSAB board.
Cloud computing — The World Privacy Forum sent a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa today expressing concerns and questions about a proposed contract to move the city of Los Angeles’ email and some other computing tasks to a cloud-based system. The Forum expressed concerns in particular about the lack of contractual protection for health data, AIDs data, genetic information, domestic violence and sexual assault victim information, among other sensitive information. The Forum suggested the city undertake an independent and thorough risk assessment prior to completing the contract, and suggested a robust public comment process that includes all stakeholders. The City will take up the issue of this contract at a city council Information Technology Committee meeting on Tuesday July 21. The World Privacy Forum published a detailed analysis of the privacy issues of cloud computing in February which outlines the challenges and ambiguities that governments and others face as they make decisions about what data to put in the cloud.
The World Privacy Forum sent a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa today expressing concerns and questions about a proposed contract to move the city of Los Angeles’ email and some other computing tasks to a cloud-based system. The Forum expressed concerns in particular about the lack of contractual protection for health data, AIDs data, genetic information, domestic violence and sexual assault victim information, among other sensitive information. The Forum suggested the city undertake an independent and thorough risk assessment prior to completing the contract, and suggested a robust public comment process that includes all stakeholders. The City will take up the issue of this contract at a city council Information Technology Committee meeting on Tuesday July 21. The World Privacy Forum published a detailed analysis of the privacy issues of cloud computing in February which outlines the challenges and ambiguities that governments and others face as they make decisions about what data to put in the cloud.
Resource — A substantial new resource for individuals seeking to research California laws and regulations regarding health information has come online. The CHILI database is a project of the California Office of Health Information Integrity, and has interfaced with the California Privacy and Security Advisory Board, which the World Privacy Forum co-chairs. The CHILI database can be searched by HIPAA section, California Code section, California health information law keywords, or by statutory scheme.