Tag: privacy

Golden age or collapse? Snowden teases future without Big Tech after trolling Facebook throughout disastrous six-hour-long outage

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4 October 2021 — RT

Golden age or collapse? Snowden teases future without Big Tech after trolling Facebook throughout disastrous six-hour-long outageFile photo: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks at a conference in Moscow, Russia September 2, 2021. ©  REUTERS/Olesya Astakhova
While millions were wailing and gnashing their teeth over the outage affecting Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was having a bit of fun – daring to suggest the world would be better without them.

Blinken comes riding the Pegasus

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25 July 2021 — Indian Punhline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Pegasus: the spyware technology that threatens democracy

Pegasus, the winged divine horse from Greek mythology, symbolises a range of things. The mythological salad can include many symbolic narratives — ranging from soul’s immortality to poetic inspiration — even the Marxist eschatological myth of the withering away of the state.

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medConfidential Bulletin, 23rd July 2021

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23 July 2021 — medConfidential

GP data grab; paused again, but still going ahead

If you asked NHS Digital for opt-out forms and the forms didn’t show up, or took ages to arrive, people tell us that happened a lot. You can get forms from us here.

We’d like to be able to tell you that you will have more information on the ‘GPDPR’ data scheme in the future than you have today – but, as you’ll see below, that’s not a promise the Government was willing to make.

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Councils’ “hidden algorithms” profile millions on benefits, Big Brother Watch investigation finds

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20 July 2021 — Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch Team

Big Brother Watch’s new report “Poverty Panopticon: the hidden algorithms shaping Britain’s welfare state”, published today, reveals:

  • 540,000 benefits applicants are secretly assigned fraud risk scores by councils’ algorithms before they can access housing benefit or council tax support.1
  • Personal data from 1.6 million people living in social housing is processed by commercial algorithms to predict rent non-payers.2
  • 250,000+ people’s data is processed by a range of secretive automated tools to predict the likelihood they’ll be abused, become homeless or out of work.3
  • Campaigners file complaint with data watchdog

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GPDPR – An Open Letter to GP Practices

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22 June 2021 — Dr. Bhatti.com

GPs are raising the alarm about plans to make 55 million NHS patients’ data available to corporations for profit. A group of GPs in East London are taking action to withhold the data and protect the privacy of their patients by refusing to share data from their Practice. They’re encouraging medical practitioners throughout England to join them through an open letter.

SUPPORT AND SHARE THE OPEN LETTER

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Statewatch News 18 June (Issue 12/21, also available as a PDF)

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18 June 2021 — Statewatch

Statewatch News 18 June (Issue 12/21, also available as a PDF)

Global call to ban public biometric surveillance

As public and private sector institutions push ahead with the development and deployment of remote biometric surveillance systems – currently best-exemplified by facial recognition technology – opposition is increasing.

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UK: medConfidential Bulletin, 11th June 2021

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11 June 2021 — medConfidential

What just happened?

On 12 May, NHS Digital quietly announced there would be a new GP data collection, known as ‘GP Data for Planning and Research’, ‘GPDPR’ – or the #GPdataGrab, for clarity.

NHS Digital and the Secretary of State, who on 6th April had Directed NHS Digital to run the scheme, hoped no-one would notice.

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Matt Hancock has quietly told your GP to hand over your health data. Why?

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28 May 2021 — Open Democracy

If you live in England, all your encounters with your GP – information about your physical, mental and sexual health – could be ‘sold’ to third parties

Phil Booth

The government wants your GP data, and it hasn’t given GPs much of a choice

From 1 July this year, if you’re registered with a GP in England, the government will be taking a copy of every medical event your GP recorded on their systems since you first registered with them. (Your children’s records, too, if you have children.)

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