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Medical Privacy | Infrastructure & Databases — The World Privacy Forum and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have submitted official comments in response to the U.S. government’s “Request for Information” about its plan to digitize all patient medical records and create an electronic “National Health Information Network” or NHIN. The comments urge caution in designing the NHIN and call for the government to build privacy, security, and open source technologies into the system from the beginning of the project.

The World Privacy Forum and the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted comments in response to the U.S. government’s “Request for Information” about its plan to digitize all patient medical records and create an electronic “National Health Information Network” or NHIN. The comments urge caution in designing the NHIN and call for the government to build privacy, security, and open source technologies into the system from the beginning of the project.

Workplace Surveillance and Privacy — The World Privacy Forum testified on January 19 regarding the need to build reasonable privacy and security protections into the proposed “smart” Federal ID cards. The testimony included recommendations on making the mandated employee background checks equitable, careful implementation of the Privacy Act, and conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment. Other key issues included setting limits on card use and protecting the mandated source documents, such as birth certificates, that will be required to obtain a card.

In any job search, it is undeniably important to circulate a resume. However, job seekers need to carefully minimize privacy issues related to resumes while still maintaining appropriate exposure to employers.

It is important for all job seekers to understand that resume databases vary widely in privacy practices and controls. Learning to choose a quality job search site and resume database with good privacy practices has become an important part of your job search if you plan to use the Internet as a job search tool.

Another key skill is to discriminate between valid job search related email and unhelpful solicitations for your resume.

California AG Bill Lockyer has sent a letter to EPIC, PRC, and WPF regarding Gmail and California’s two-way consent requirement in its wiretapping laws. Lockyer wrote in a response dated June 4: “The potential exposure of Gmail users to liability for violation of Penal Code section 631 is of particular concern, as are the rights of those who are not subscribers to Gmail but who send e-mail to those who are.”