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Daily Archives: August 4, 2015

Privacy Implications of Health Information Seeking on the Web

Privacy Implications of Health Information Seeking on the Web, By Timothy Libert 
“Privacy online is an increasingly popular field of study, yet it remains poorly defined. “Privacy” itself is a word that changes according to location, context, and culture. Additionally, the Web is a vast landscape of specialized sites and activities that may only apply to a minority of users—making defining widely shared privacy concerns difficult. Likewise, as technologies and services proliferate, the line between on- and offline is increasingly blurred. Researchers attempting to make sense of this rapidly changing environment are frequently stymied by such factors. Therefore, the ideal object of study is one that is inherently sensitive in nature, applies to the majority of users, and readily lends itself to analysis. The study of health privacy on the Web meets all of these criteria.”
  • See related article by Brad Reed – “And let’s say you don’t search through Google and just find a link to health information through privacy-focused search engines like DuckDuckGo — there’s still a good chance that Facebook will know you’re searching for information on a certain disease. Why? Because websites such as the Center for Disease Control’s HIV information page contain “Share” and “Like” buttons for Facebook, which are apparently enough to let Facebook know that you’ve visited the page even if you never click on them.”

Library Privacy Guidelines for E-book Lending and Digital Content Vendors

American Library Association: “Protecting user privacy and confidentiality has long been an integral part of the intellectual freedom mission of libraries. The right to free inquiry as assured by the First Amendment depends upon the ability to read and access information free from scrutiny by the government or other third parties. In their provision of… Continue Reading

World Bank Launches Green Bond Impact Report

“The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) released today a Green Bond Impact Report with detailed information about the environment and social results expected from projects supported by its green bonds through June 30, 2015. These projects target low carbon and climate-resilient growth in IBRD’s member countries. “The report is another… Continue Reading

Assuring Accountability Through Mission

Wegner, Judith W., Assuring Accountability Through Mission (June 1, 2015). Building on Best Practices: Transforming Legal Education in a Changing World (Deborah Maranville, Lisa Radtke Bliss, Carolyn Wilkes Kaas & Antoinette Sedillo Lopez eds., 2015), chapter 2. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2637068 “This chapter of Building on Best Practices: Transforming Legal Education in a… Continue Reading

EPIC, Coalition Urge FCC to End Call Record Data Retention

“EPIC and a coalition of leading consumer rights, human rights, and civil liberties organizations, along with members of the EPIC Advisory Board, have petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to end the FCC’s rule requiring mass retention of phone records. Currently, the FCC requires phone companies to retain sensitive information on all customers, including name, address,… Continue Reading

Comparison of U.S. and International Global Systemically Important Banks

Office of Financial Research (OFR Brief Series 15-7) Paul Glasserman and Bert Loudis – “Among global systemically important banks (G-SIBs), U.S. banks rank high in systemic importance relative to foreign banks. G-SIBs with higher systemic importance scores do not consistently have higher risk-based capital ratios, despite the importance of capital as a buffer against failure.” Continue Reading

Mapping Heat in the U.S. Financial System

Mapping Heat in the U.S. Financial System – David Aikman, Michael T. Kiley, Seung Lee, Michael G. Palumbo, and Missaka N. Warusawitharana, August 2015, Federal Reserve. “Abstract: We provide a framework for assessing the build-up of vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system. We collect forty-four indicators of financial and balance-sheet conditions, cutting across measures of… Continue Reading

GAO Reports – Environmental Litigation, Disability Insurance, DOD Financial Management, Army Reserve Components

Environmental Litigation: Information on Cases against EPA and FWS and on Deadline Suits on EPA Rulemaking, GAO-15-803T: Published: Aug 4, 2015. Publicly Released: Aug 4, 2015. Disability Insurance: Actions Needed to Help Prevent Potential Overpayments to Individuals Receiving Concurrent Federal Workers’ Compensation, GAO-15-531: Published: Jul 8, 2015. Publicly Released: Aug 3, 2015. DOD Financial Management:… Continue Reading