Joe Cadillic writes about an issue that I have been blogging about for more than a decade now: government surveillance of our pharmacy records and prescriptions. Joe writes: Back in 2017 I reported on how the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Prescription Monitoring Program was tracking 60 percent of Americans personal information and prescriptions. But now an article in Filter Mag…
Category: Healthcare
S.D.N.Y.: Mental health detentions don’t require actual showing of dangerous behavior; probability enough
From FourthAmendment.com: A mental health detention requires “requires only a ‘probability or substantial chance’ of dangerous behavior, not an actual showing of such behavior.’” … Probable cause for involuntary hospitalization may be established from ‘information gleaned from informants[,] … normally the putative victim or eyewitness, unless the circumstances raise doubt as to the person’s veracity.’…
The iOS Covid App Ecosystem Has Become a Privacy Minefield
Andy Greenberg reports: WHEN THE NOTION of enlisting smartphones to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic first surfaced last spring, it sparked a months-long debate: Should apps collect location data, which could help with contact tracing but potentially reveal sensitive information? Or should they take a more limited approach, only measuring Bluetooth-based proximity to other phones? Now, a broad…
Harris County Public Health to conduct survey, go door-to-door to collect blood (updated)
Oh my. Joe Cadillic sent along a news item posted by Click2Houston that says that representatives of Harris County Public Health (HCPH) will be going door-to-door to randomly selected homes, collecting blood samples to determine the presence of COVID-19 antibodies. Now before you panic totally, the county’s statement mentions that the blood collection will be…