The Gathering Storm: WCIT and the Global Regulation of the Internet

Bennett, Richard. "The Gathering Storm: WCIT and the Global Regulation of the Internet." The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, November 21, 2012.

From the report: "At the upcoming International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, to be held from December 3-14, delegates will consider proposals to amend the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs,) binding rules that govern telecommunications network practices around the world…. If any change needs to be made at all in the ITRs with respect to the Internet, it should be limited to creating a firewall between the authority of ITU and the operation of the Internet. The Internet’s organic governance system has proved to be quite effective, in no small part due to its close proximity to the Internet’s technical standards and business practices. 

Technologies that enable rapid rates of change need the ability to adapt to changing conditions quickly; an international treaty organization that convenes once every fifteen years does not fit the bill. The ITU is facing obsolescence as we begin to retire the telephone networks that have been its sole focus since the phase-out of the telegraph, but this existential crisis does not justify a wholesale restructuring of Internet governance." Read more

Health Care System To Benefit From Recent HIE Progress

Ahier, Brian. "Health Care System To Benefit From Recent HIE Progress." iHealthBeat, November 26, 2012.

From the article: "The stars seem to be aligned for rapid progress in health information exchange. We are fast approaching a point in the development of the Health Internet where ubiquitous exchange of health data to improve care coordination and health care quality and ultimately lower costs might be possible. We still face some problems, and standards and policies must be aligned, but there is some great synergy in play that will help drive this vision forward. There are a variety of different initiatives which are coalescing, but there is also a great deal of work still left to do." Read more

Global Internet User Survey Reveals Attitudes, Usage, and Behavior

"Global Internet User Survey Reveals Attitudes, Usage, and Behavior." Internet Society, November 26, 2012. 

From the report: "A worldwide survey of more than 10,000 Internet users in 20 countries conducted by the Internet Society revealed attitudes towards the Internet and user behavior online. The Global Internet User Survey is one of the broadest surveys of Internet user attitudes on key issues facing the Internet. This year's survey covered areas such as how users manage personal information online, attitudes toward the Internet and human rights, censorship, and the potential for the Internet to address issues such as economic development and education.

Key findings from this year's survey cover a broad range of topics.

The Internet and Human Rights:

• Eighty-three percent of respondents agreed or agreed strongly that access to the Internet should be considered a basic human right.
• Eighty-nine percent agreed or agreed strongly that Internet access allows freedom of expression on all subjects, and 86 percent agreed or agreed strongly that freedom of expression should be guaranteed.
• Sixty percent of respondents agreed or agreed strongly that Internet access has contributed significantly to civil action and political awareness in their country." Read more

The Impact of Electronic Patient Portals on Patient Care: A Systematic Review of Controlled Trials

Ammenwerth, Elske, Schnell-Inderst, Petra, and Alexander Hoerbst. "The Impact of Electronic Patient Portals on Patient Care: A Systematic Review of Controlled Trials." Journal of Medical Internet Research 14 (2012).

From the report: "Modern information technology is changing and provides new challenges to health care. The emergence of the Internet and the electronic health record (EHR) has brought new opportunities for patients to play a more active role in his/her care. Although in many countries patients have the right to access their clinical information, access to clinical records electronically is not common. Patient portals consist of provider-tethered applications that allow patients to electronically access health information that are documented and managed by a health care institution. Although patient portals are already being implemented, it is still unclear in which ways these technologies can influence patient care." Read more

Avoiding a Data Divide Between the US and the EU

Kerry, Cameron. "Avoiding a Data Divide Between the US and the EU." European Voice, November 22, 2012. 

From the article: "The US and EU privacy regimes differ because their legal systems and political structures are distinct, but our values are similar. The ‘fair information practices principles' that informed the EU's privacy directive originated in a US government report in the 1970s. These principles are also the foundation of the Obama administration's consumer privacy bill of rights.

The US and the EU ultimately share the same goals – to protect privacy and facilitate trade and economic growth." Read more

The U.N.'s Internet Sneak Attack

"The U.N.'s Internet Sneak Attack." The Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2012. 

From the article: "Who runs the Internet? For now, the answer remains no one, or at least no government, which explains the Web's success as a new technology. But as of next week, unless the U.S. gets serious, the answer could be the United Nations.

Many of the U.N.'s 193 member states oppose the open, uncontrolled nature of the Internet. Its interconnected global networks ignore national boundaries, making it hard for governments to censor or tax. And so, to send the freewheeling digital world back to the state control of the analog era, China, Russia, Iran and Arab countries are trying to hijack a U.N. agency that has nothing to do with the Internet." Read more

Mobile Phones—Especially 3G Ones—Make Economies Grow Faster

Snow, Jackie. "Mobile Phones—Especially 3G Ones—Make Economies Grow Faster." Quartz, November 25, 2012.

From the article: "Now there is evidence that improving mobile Internet access helps economies too. A recent study examined the effect of faster 3G wireless data connections replacing slower 2G ones. The study by the GSM Association mobile trade group, Deloitte and Cisco, looked at 96 developed and developing markets from 2008 to 2011. When a market experienced a 10% shift from 2G to 3G, GDP per capita growth increased by an average of 0.15 percentage points. A separate look into 14 countries between 2005 to 2010 found that a doubling of mobile data use led to an increase of 0.5 percentage points in per capita growth." Read more

See also

"What is the Impact of Mobile Telephony on Economic Growth?" Report prepared by Deloitte for the GSM Association, November 2012. 

European Parliament Warns Against UN Internet Control

"European Parliament Warns Against UN Internet Control." BBC, November 22, 2012. 

From the article: "Members of the European Parliament backed a resolution which urged member states to reject changes to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) which would "negatively impact the internet, its architecture, operations, content and security, business relations, internet governance and the free flow of information online"…. The European Parliament's objection follows loud opposition from search giant Google, which has invited concerned internet users to sign a petition.

"The International Telecommunication Union is bringing together regulators from around the world to renegotiate a decades-old communications treaty," the company wrote." Read more

See also
"European Parliament Resolution on the Forthcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) of the International Telecommunication Union, and the Possible Expansion of the Scope of International Telecommunication Regulations." European Parliament, November 19, 2012.

Why Big Data Could Sink Europe’s ‘Right To Be Forgotten'

Meyer, David. "Why Big Data Could Sink Europe’s ‘Right To Be Forgotten.'" GigaOm, November 20, 2012. 

  

From the article: "Europe’s proposed ‘right to be forgotten’ has been the subject of intense debate, with many people arguing it’s simply not practical in the age of the internet for any data to be reliably expunged from history.

Well, add another voice to that mix. The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has published its assessment of the proposals, and the tone is sceptical to say the least. And, interestingly, one of the biggest problems ENISA has found has to do with big data." Read more

See also

The Right To Be Forgotten - Between Expectations and Practice, report prepared by the European Network and Information Security Agency, November 20, 2012. 

Willing to Pay for Quality Personalization? Trade-Off between Quality and Privacy

Li, Ting, and Till Unger. "Willing to Pay for Quality Personalization? Trade-Off between Quality and Privacy." European Journal of Information Systems 21 (2012): 621-642.

From the report: "Online personalization presents recommendations of products and services based on customers’ past online purchases or browsing behavior. Personalization applications reduce information overload and provide value-added services. However, their adoption is hindered by customers’ concerns about information privacy. This paper reports on research undertaken to determine whether a high-quality recommendation service will encourage customers to use online personalization. We collected data through a series of online experiments to examine the impacts of privacy and quality on personalization usage and on users’ willingness to pay and to disclose information when using news and financial services." Read more

Who Are the Doctors Most Trusted by Doctors? Big Data Can Tell You.

Heussner, Ki Mae. "Who Are the Doctors Most Trusted by Doctors? Big Data Can Tell You." The Washington Post, November 19, 2012.

From the article: "By accessing information in government databases through FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, healthcare innovators are now able to share connections between doctors that are based on millions of physician referrals — a valuable indicator of who doctors hold in esteem." Read more

Privacy and Security Aspects of Social Media: Institutional and Technological Environment

Kshetri, Nir. "Privacy and Security Aspects of Social Media: Institutional and Technological Environment." The Pacific Asia Journal of the Association for Information Systems 3 (2012):  1-20.

From the report: "Legitimate as well as illegitimate organizations and entities are gaining access to information about social media (SM) users through illegal, extralegal, and quasi-legal means. Worse still, many organizations and individuals using SM have become targets and victims of cybercrimes. SM have also led to an exposure of unethical and illegal conducts within some organizations. One estimate suggested that 36% of social networking users have reported experiencing malware attacks through their profiles. Another study suggested that one in four companies have become cybercrime victims via social networking sites. Likewise, about a quarter of employers surveyed by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics in 2009 had disciplined an employee for improper activities on social networking sites. Organizations that fail to take appropriate technological and behavioral measures related to SM are likely to suffer reputation damages, loss of customers' confidence, and other types of economic losses. The goal of this paper is to develop a framework that provides a simple, explicit mechanism for understanding privacy and security issues associated with SM." Read more

Teens and Venture Investors Demand Online Safety and Privacy

Kolodny, Lora. "Teens and Venture Investors Demand Online Safety and Privacy." Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2012.

From the article: A new study from the Family Online Safety Institute, a nonprofit on a mission to “make the online world safe for kids and families,” found that teens are not only more connected than ever, increasingly using mobile devices and social networks, but they understand privacy and safety issues in a way that previous generations didn’t.

In addition, FOSI and venture investors say they are focused on ensuring that entrepreneurs consider safety and privacy issues and plan for them from the start when developing a business.  Read more

See also

Hart Research Associates. The Online Generation Gap: Contrasting Attitudes and Behaviors of Parents and Teens, prepared for The Family Online Safety Institute, November 14, 2012.

A Survey of Primary Care Doctors in Ten Countries Shows Progress in Use of Health Information Technology, Less in Other Areas

Schoen, Cathy, et al. "A Survey of Primary Care Doctors in Ten Countries Shows Progress in Use of Health Information Technology, Less in Other Areas." The Common Wealth Fund, November 15, 2012.

From the article:

• Two-thirds (69%) of U.S. primary care physicians reported using EMRs in 2012, up from less than half (46%) in 2009. Both U.S. and Canadian doctors expanded their use of health information technology (HIT), though the two countries lag the U.K., New Zealand, and Australia in EMRs and use of HIT to perform a range of functions, like generating patient information or ordering diagnostic tests. 
• In the U.S.—the only country in the survey without universal health coverage—59 percent of physicians said their patients often have trouble paying for care. Far fewer physicians in Norway (4%), the U.K. (13%), Switzerland (16%), Germany (21%), and Australia (25%) reported affordability was a concern for their patients. 
• More than half (52%) of U.S. doctors said they or their staff spend too much time dealing with insurers’ restrictions on covered treatments or medications—by far the highest rate in the survey.  Read more

The Right to Be Forgotten in the Internet Era

Graux, Hans, Jef Ausloos and Peggy Valcke. "The Right to Be Forgotten in the Internet Era." ICRI Research Paper No. 11, November 12, 2012.

From the report: Especially after its appearance in the European Commission's recent proposal for a new Data Protection Regulation, the 'right to be forgotten' has provoked quite some criticism. Much of the opponents, however, seem uninformed on the actual scope and meaning of the proposed provision. Additionally, the concept is often confused with the much older 'droit a l'oubli', which finds its rationale in the protection of privacy as a fundamental human right. This text starts by giving an overview of the more traditional droit a l'oubli and how it is applied throughout Europe. Subsequently, the more modern 'right to be forgotten' is analyzed from a normative, market, technological and legal perspective. Finally, this text makes a thorough and critical analysis of the current proposal. Despite its laudable goal, some deficiencies should be resolved. But, in general, the right seems to restore the power balance by giving (back) effective control to individuals over their personal data.  Read more

The Making of a (Big Data) President

Hurwitz, Judith. "The Making of a (Big Data) President." Bloomberg Businessweek, November 14, 2012.

From the article: For the first time in presidential politics, there is a considerable focus on the role that large amounts of data played in the course of the campaign. Technology has always been important for any political campaign, but in this presidential election, both campaigns attempted to use Big Data analytics as a strategic weapon. There were some important lessons to learn from how the data were used—and misused.  Read more

Reed Hundt and Blair Levin: For a Politics of Abundance, Growth First

Hundt, Reed and Blair Levin. "For a Politics of Abundance, Growth First." Mercury News, November 12, 2012. 

From the article: "After the election, Washington, D.C., has the same power structure, but a very different strategic situation. Because existing law raises taxes and cuts spending at the beginning of 2013, the Republican House must compromise with both the Democratic Senate and re-elected President Barack Obama on the budget. No one can prize gridlock above agreement.

Washington's habitual inclination in such situations, however, is toward protracted negotiation of marginal changes. Now is the time for Silicon Valley leaders to demand that while negotiating budget compromises, Congress also immediately pass laws that allow the private sector quickly to deliver breakthroughs in information technology and clean energy to the market.

Potential technological abundance can give the United States both a high and rising standard of living and a rapid reduction in dependence on carbon-intense energy uses." Read more 

Global Information Society Watch 2012: The Internet and Corruption.

Finlay, Alan, ed. "Global Information Society Watch 2012: The Internet and Corruption." Association for Progressive Communications and the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries, 2012. 

From the report: "In an era of reciprocal accountability we are all inclined to fear omnipresent observation – not the divine judgement of the second millennium, but rather the constant, networked, live-streamed observation of the third millennium. It sounds exhausting, and often is, but if we aspire to our better selves, if we are tolerant of those who are different, if we always grant the benefit of doubt when lacking sufficient context, then reciprocal accountability might grant us all greater freedom and prosperity." Read more

Airbnb: Our Guests Stay Longer And Spend More Than Hotel Guests, Contributing $56M To The San Francisco Economy

Lawler, Ryan. "Airbnb: Our Guests Stay Longer And Spend More Than Hotel Guests, Contributing $56M To The San Francisco Economy." Tech Crunch, November 9, 2012.

From the article: "According to research conducted by real estate and economic development consulting firm HR&A Advisors, Airbnb guests helped contribute $56 million in total economic activity to the San Francisco economy from June 2011 to May 2012, the vast majority of which was unrelated to the money they spent on lodging. Airbnb guests spent $12.7 million in lodging during that time, but spent an additional $43.1 million while staying in town." Read more

Government Transparency and Secrecy: An Examination of Meaning and Its Use in the Executive Branch

Ginsberg, Wendy, et al. "Government Transparency and Secrecy: An Examination of Meaning and Its Use in the Executive Branch." Congressional Research Service, November 8, 2012. 

From the report: "This report subsequently examines the statutes, initiatives, requirements, and other actions that make information more available to the public or protect it from public release. It also examines transparency and secrecy from the standpoint of how the public accesses government information, and whether the release of government data and information may make operation of the federal government more or, counter-intuitively, less transparent. Finally, this report analyzes whether existing transparency initiatives are effective in reaching their stated goals." Read more

Many Health Apps Are Based on Flimsy Science at Best, and They Often Do Not Work

Sharpe, Rochelle. "Many Health Apps Are Based on Flimsy Science at Best, and They Often Do Not Work." The Washington Post, November 12, 2012.

From the article: "When the iTunes store began offering apps that used cellphone light to cure acne, federal investigators knew that hucksters had found a new spot in cyberspace….

Since then, the Food and Drug Administration has been mired in a debate over how to oversee these high-tech products, and government officials have not pursued any other app developers for making medically dubious claims. Now, both the iTunes store and the Google Play store are riddled with health apps that experts say do not work and in some cases could even endanger people." Read more

Hospitals Use Patient Data to Target Ads

Sutherly, Ben. "Hospitals Use Patient Data to Target Ads." The Columbus Dispatch, November 12, 2012.

From the article: "You might not know it when you seek care from some of central Ohio’s hospital systems, but your health information makes you a potential marketing target.

OhioHealth and Mount Carmel Health System routinely mine health data from their patients’ records to decide who should receive certain mailings. The approach — sometimes called “ customer-relationship management” — has been used for six years by OhioHealth and two years by Mount Carmel. Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center hasn’t used it, but it plans to take another look at the tactic soon, a spokesman said." Read more

More Companies Are Tracking Online Data, Study Finds

Singer, Natasha. "More Companies Are Tracking Online Data, Study Finds." New York Times Bits Blog, November 12, 2012.

From the article: "The number of trackers collecting data on users’ activities on the most popular Web sites in the United States has significantly increased in the last five months, according to research from the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Berkeley project, called the “Web Privacy Census,” aims to measure online privacy by conducting periodic web crawls and comparing the number of cookies and other types of tracking technology found over time on the most visited sites." Read more

See also 

Berkeley Law. "Web Privacy Census."

Despite ONC's Effort, Comparing PHR Privacy Policies Still Challenging

Ackerman, Kate. "Despite ONC's Effort, Comparing PHR Privacy Policies Still Challenging." iHealthBeat, November 12, 2012.  

From the article: "To date, personal health record adoption has been somewhat limited, but the market is expected to get a big boost from Stage 2 of the meaningful use incentive program.

Deven McGraw -- director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology -- said, "The market for those tools has been a little soft I think because people have really had to hand enter in the data or scan [them] in, as opposed to being able to feed [the information] directly from a provider's electronic health record, unless they happen to be a patient at Kaiser or part of a system that already offers them that tool." However, she said, "That's going to change in 2014 when a lot of the early adopters in the HITECH incentive program begin Stage 2 and start actively encouraging patients to view and potentially download and transmit their data."

But is the industry ready when it comes to privacy and security regulations?" Read more

Established Democracies, Internet Censorship and the Social Media Test

Dick, Archie L. "Established Democracies, Internet Censorship and the Social Media Test." Information Development 28 (2012): 459-260.

From the report: "Social media can test how firmly entrenched Internet freedom is in established democracies through a comparison with countries with an authoritarian track record. The method is to evaluate the use of social media in recent protests in a sample of established democracies and authoritarian regimes, and to compare differences and similarities in government responses." Read more