Most of today’s computer languages make it hard for programmers to protect users’ privacy and security. The fix is to take those tasks out of human hands entirely.
There’s more you could donate besides blood, organs and tissue.
Cropped from pulmonary_pathology/flickr
Most people know they can donate their organs after they pass away. But what about their medical data? For National Donor Day, we suggest countries create national databases of data donors.
Digital information should be private and secure.
Digital communications via shutterstock.com
Recent developments at the United Nations and the G-20 suggest that the well-known human rights to privacy and freedom of expression may soon be formally extended to online communications.
Helicopters hover over Bondi Beach after spotting a shark.
AAP Image/NEWZULU/TOM CASKA
LIfeguards could potentially have a new ally in the fight to reduce shark incidents: drones that can spot when a shark swims nearby, and automatically alert authorities.
You might think you’re anonymous when you’re browsing the web. But a new study shows that browsing history can often be tied to your real-world identity.
Passing on health information of ‘migrants’ seeking help goes against doctor-patient confidentiality and also poses a public health risk. A doctor spells out her concerns.
Who owns the digital data recorded and uploaded by CCTV operators?
shutterstock
In a recent report highlighting ‘shortcomings’ in security and welfare services in offshore detention, six terabytes of data was ‘missing’. Don’t expect to see it any time soon.
The darknet, like the open internet, is not immune from illegal activity. But many darknet users are there in search of ‘hacker ethics’ values such as privacy and free speech.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has suggested a national identity card.
AAP/Sarah Motherwell
Many parents love sharing photos of their children on social media. But they should stop and think about how it might affect their children, now and in the future.
The FBI has a history of abusing search warrants to illegally read Americans’ emails. Did the agency just do it again, in the highest of all high-profile situations?
A Queensland police officer models the body-worn camera.
AAP/supplied
Body-worn cameras may seem to be a boost for policing and criminal justice, but they raise a host of issues around admissibility, privacy and fairrness.
Social media does not eradicate the line between personal or private. Instead, it shifts the line in ways that require thought rather than unreflexive condemnation or celebration.
Need you announce you’ve been hacked? The clock is ticking.
Woman with clock and megaphone via shutterstock.com
We don’t expect our own government to hack our email – but it’s happening, in secret, and if current court cases go badly, we may never know how often.