TECHNOLOGY: Just use old technology with no added controls

Monday, October 5, 2009

http://tinyurl.com/yatdtgu

TN: Docs faxing patients’ data to Indiana company
Tennessean

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“Doctors’ offices in Tennessee have been accidentally sending patient information, including Social Security numbers and medical histories, to an Indiana businessman’s fax machine for the past three years. The sensitive medical information was supposed to be sent to the Tennessee Department of Human Services, but Bill Keith, owner of SunRise Solar Inc. in Indiana, says hundreds of confidential medical faxes having been coming to him. ‘This is a total breach of privacy,’ Keith said. ‘This is supposed to be confidential, and it just so happens we have some scruples here and wouldn’t do anything with that information. We’ve shredded them, but you can have a file an inch thick in no time.'”

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The technology of fax has to be decades old. And, yet, the TN state gooferment still relies upon it.

There are so many things that could be done. Doesn’t take a genius to figure them out.

Why can’t they use encrypted email?

Why can’t they require a “handshake code” before faxing?

Why can’t the TN gooferment call the docs to pick up their forms?

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PLATFORMS: Separate out data

Monday, October 5, 2009

http://www.wxpnews.com/LEM1E6/090929-Save-the-PC

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Dividing the hard disk into separate partitions and keeping your data on drive that’s separate from your operating system is second nature to many of us – but it’s not what happens by default when you install an operating system. Now Jason Hiner is petitioning both Microsoft and Apple to make this the default behavior, so that people will be less likely to lose all their important documents, photos, music, etc. if the OS fails and a clean reinstall is the only solution. Do you agree, or do you think it’s a non-issue as long as we all back up our data as we’re supposed to?

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It is a great idea.

Unfortunately, no one makes that easy.

IMHO all my data and all my “settings” should be on “MY SIDE” of the disk partition.

Then, all I have to back up is EASILY identified.

Wish it were so.

Microsoft is the biggest offender with the concept of the “registry” in the first place. That’s the thing that makes you have to reinstall in the first place. And, heaven forbid, you have a power drop while it’s writing to it’s precious registry. You may have an unbootable system.

Inexcusable!

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Posted by reinkefj