Matthew Perrone reports: The nation’s top health officials are stepping up calls to require doctors to log in to pill-tracking databases before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs. The move is part of a multi-pronged strategy by the Obama administration to tame an epidemic of abuse and death tied to opioid painkillers like Vicodin and…
Category: Govt
The FBI Now Has The Largest Biometric Database In The World. Will It Lead To More Surveillance?
Eric Markowitz reports: The story of how the FBI finally tracked down notorious fugitive Lynn Cozart, using its brand-new, $1 billion facial recognition system, seems tailor-made to disarm even the staunchest of skeptics. […] According to unreleased FBI data provided to IBT in February, the agency had, as of February, processed a total of 77,136 suspect…
FTC Releases New Guidance For Developers of Mobile Health Apps
The Federal Trade Commission has created a new web-based tool for developers of health-related mobile apps, which is designed to help the developers understand what federal laws and regulations might apply to their apps. The FTC developed the tool in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of National Coordinator for Health Information…
FTC’s Brill: Agency Got It Wrong on E-Mail Privacy
Alexei Alexis reports: Outgoing Federal Trade Commissioner Julie Brill said she hopes the agency will rethink its stance on e-mail privacy proposals before Congress. The FTC issued a statement in September objecting to proposals that would overhaul the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Proposed changes would make it more difficult for law enforcers across the federal…