privacy

Does Your Doctor Use Electronic Records?

Posted on 05/22/2013 by | General News | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | TechnologyFrom The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says more doctors and hospitals are embracing technology as adoption of computerized medical records reaches a “tipping point” in America. A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services says more than 50 percent of doctors’ offices and 4 in 5 hospitals have transitioned from paper to electronic records, thanks partly to more than $14 billion in government incentive payments. The hope is that electronic records will make …

Prepare your Facebook Security Settings for New Search

Posted on 01/16/2013 by | AARP Social Media Strategy/Trainer | Comments

Technology | Your LifeFacebook announced this week it will make it a lot easier to search your personal page along with all of your friends. It’s called the Facebook Graph Search. While this announcement does not change your privacy settings on Facebook, it means if you’ve ignored your privacy settings, now is a really good time to check it out. (Facebook wrote up more details about how privacy works with the new search.) Facebook says the graph search will take already existing information …

How Private Is Your Genetic Code? Less So Than You May Think

Posted on 10/11/2012 by | Brooklyn, NY | Comments

News RoundupsAnyone who’s watched more than a few episodes of Law & Order knows how easy it is to unwittingly get a sample of someone’s DNA — a discarded coffee cup, a used Kleenex, a few stray hairs and you’re good to go. In Dick Wolf’s world, such samples are used to catch the bad guys (or exonerate the good guys), but in real life, genetic code can reveal a variety of information, including what diseases may lurk in someone’s future. This type of genetic testing — known as whole genome sequencing — has many useful applications. But a report released today by the presidential bioethics commission reveals that many legal issues surrounding genetic privacy have yet to be addressed.

FTC Halts Rent-to-Own Computer Spying

Posted on 09/25/2012 by | Money and Work | Comments

Bulletin Today | Money & SavingsThis is a guest post by Sid Kirchheimer. The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday announced it settled a case with seven rent-to-own computer businesses and a software vendor accused of secretly installing software to spy on customers who rented those machines. The FTC says the installed software, licensed by Philadelphia-area DesignerWare LLC, captured screenshots of confidential and personal information, logged computer keystrokes and in some cases took webcam pictures of people in their homes — all without renters’ notice or consent. …

Facebook, privacy, and you!

Posted on 01/19/2011 by | AARP Blog Author | Comments

TechnologySigh. Another week, another Facebook privacy snafu in the news: Facebook has put in a lot of effort to getting users to enter their mobile numbers. But now the social network is giving developers access to numbers in addition to home addresses with a single click. Is this just trouble waiting to happen? Not unsurprisingly, this news spread like wildfire, and the next day, Facebook backed out this new feature, citing “useful feedback” and their plans to “help ensure you …