Tag: Privacy

Canadians’ health data at risk of being handed over to U.S. authorities, experts warn | CBC News

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Canadians’ electronic health records need more protections to prevent foreign entities from accessing patient data, according to commentary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “Canadian privacy law is badly outdated,” said Michael Geist, law professor and Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa and co-author of the commentary. “We’re now talking about decades since the last major change.” Geist says electronic medical records systems from clinics and hospitals — containing patients’ personal health information — are often controlled by U.S. companies. The data is…

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Scientists develop method to identify people by how their bodies disrupt Wi-Fi | TechSpot

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A hot potato: As Wi-Fi spreads everywhere, a new technology could identify you just by how your body disturbs wireless signals – no cameras, no devices needed. This breakthrough raises urgent questions about privacy in a world where invisible tracking might soon become routine. Researchers at La Sapienza University of Rome have developed a method they say can re-identify individuals based solely on how their bodies disrupt Wi-Fi signals – a breakthrough likely to reignite debates over privacy and surveillance. The technique is more powerful and less invasive than biometric…

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What’s going on with Nova Scotia Power’s billing in wake of ransomware attack | CBC News

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Nova Scotia Power is sending workers out to manually check power meters at homes to ensure accurate billing, as some customers complain of receiving higher than expected bills. It’s the latest development since a ransomware attack breached the company’s computer systems on March 19 and brought some of its systems to a halt. More than half of the utility’s customers in Nova Scotia — about 280,000 — were informed by letter that their personal information may have been compromised. Read full story here: What’s going on with Nova Scotia Power’s…

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U.S. college student pleads guilty in data breach that affected North American schools | CBC News

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A Massachusetts college student has agreed to plead guilty to hacking cloud-based education software provider PowerSchool and stealing data pertaining to millions of North American students and teachers that hackers used to extort the company and school districts into paying ransoms. Matthew Lane, 19, entered into a plea deal on Tuesday to resolve charges filed in federal court in Worcester, Mass., related to the hacking of two companies, which were then extorted for ransoms. Court papers did not identify the affected companies by name, but a person familiar with the…

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Couple’s airline credit stolen, used for stranger’s luxury flight — and Air Canada blamed them | CBC News

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An Ontario couple says Air Canada failed to protect them and then blamed them after their flight was mysteriously cancelled and the credit used to buy a business class ticket to Tokyo — for someone they’d never met. Bill and Sandra Barlow spent more than a year saving for their dream trip to South and Central America, which was a 75th birthday celebration for Bill. The Milton, Ont., couple used travel points and cash — just over $5,000 in total — to book their return flights in business class. Read…

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Canadians’ health data at risk of Trump’s AI ambitions, experts warn | Global News

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Medical researchers and lawyers say our rocky relationship with the United States creates an urgent need to protect a critical Canadian resource: patient health information that can be used to train artificial intelligence. “Our health data is the most valuable health data set in the world,” said Natalie Raffoul, an intellectual property lawyer in Ottawa. “You can’t go to any other jurisdiction and be able to pool a data set like this because no one else has a public health system like this with the kind of ethnic diversity that…

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Lawsuit: Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to quietly track driving behavior | arsTECHNICA

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Texas has sued insurance provider Allstate, alleging that the firm and its data broker subsidiary used data from apps like GasBuddy, Routely, and Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies. Allstate and Arity, a “mobility data and analytics” firm founded by Allstate in 2016, collected “trillions of miles worth of location data” from more than 45 million people, then used that data to adjust rates, according to Texas’ lawsuit. This violates Texas’ Data Privacy and Security Act, which requires “clear notice and informed consent” on how…

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Group files court challenge to Nova Scotia’s personal health information law | CBC News

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A group of individuals and the non-profit Nova Scotia Civil Liberties Association are asking the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to quash recent changes to a law that give the province greater access to personal health records. “We have serious concerns about the constitutionality of what’s happened,” said James Manson, a lawyer representing the groups, in an interview on CBC Radio’s Information Morning. The application to the court argues that parts of Nova Scotia’s Personal Health Information Act and corresponding regulations infringe on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Read full…

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Nova Scotia health data at risk due to ineffective cybersecurity: report | Global News

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Nova Scotia doesn’t provide effective cybersecurity for its digital health networks, and as a result is exposed to unnecessary risk, says a new report by the province’s auditor general. Kim Adair’s report published Tuesday found a lack of accountability and collaboration between the three government entities that oversee the system: the health department, the cybersecurity and digital solutions department, and Nova Scotia’s health authority. Read full story here: Nova Scotia health data at risk due to ineffective cybersecurity: report | Global News

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