Stilgherrian

Digital developments from Canberra 35: Budget Special

On Tuesday night Australia’s treasurer Jim Chalmers released the nation’s Budget for 2023–2024. I’ve gone though it to find things related to the digital and cyber realms, plus a few other items that caught my eye. This is a loooooong post! Preamble…

Digital developments from Canberra 33

The Defence Strategic Review dominated the relevant news from Canberra these last two weeks, but we also saw moves on combating far-right extremism, fighting the scams and spams, and various minor bits and pieces. Here are the digital developments…

Digital developments from Canberra 27

Some big ones this week, including announcements about a new national cybersecurity strategy, federal-state coordination on digital IDs, various legislation given the go-ahead by Senate committees, and what’s probably the final week of public…

Digital developments from Canberra 24

Parliament has kicked off for 2023. There’s no new legislation to concern us here, but there’s news of spooks and spies, electronic warfare, Medicare, My Health Record, TROVE, cryptocurrency, and more. Here are the digital developments from Canberra…

Digital developments from Canberra 23

The working year has kicked off with a bang. A massive report on myGov and a massive new cultural policy, plus news on digital ID, streaming services, digital platforms, copyright, and even My Health Record. Remember that? Here are the digital…

Digital developments from Canberra 14

Parliament wasn’t sitting this week, but some interesting reports hit the table — including a couple of Commonwealth Ombudsman reports on electronic surveillance activities. Here are the digital developments from Canberra I’ve noticed since the…

Digital developments in Labor’s second week of Parliament

This week the Albanese Labor government’s legislation program continued to focus on health, aged care, and the environment, but there’s still a few items of interest to us. First, though, I’ve updated my list of Australian cyber-related legislation…

Australia's cops need reminding that chasing criminals isn't society's only need

'It's not illegal so I'll keep doing it' isn't good enough. During a pandemic, law enforcement agencies need to kick their data addiction and politicians need the spine to intervene. A disturbing pair of attitudes continue to infect law enforcement…

Cyber attacks on COVID-19 vaccine production are not quite a war crime

Hacking virus research labs to steal their secret recipes is just industrial espionage. But cyber attacks against vaccine production and distribution would be a war crime -- if we were at war.As the fight against the coronavirus…

How the B-Team watches over Australia's encryption laws and cybersecurity

Most telco interception warrants are issued by non-judges. Important cybersecurity work isn't being done. The Information Commissioner lacks funding. Does the government actually care about privacy and security? The cybersecurity of the…

Clampdown on US border device searches not such a big deal

Alasaad v. Mcaleenan acknowledges the intrusiveness of digital searches, but it's only about "contraband" and falls short of requiring a warrant. It's time for SCOTUS and Congress to dig deeper, say experts. US Court rules travellers' phones and…

Dutton's non-denial fuels fears of domestic ASD cyber spying

The Australian government could avoid so much grief about surveillance if it stopped being so paranoid about discussing its ideas transparently -- unless it really does intend to do something dodgy. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has tried yet…

A lesson in risk: Your business is a ship not an aircraft

"For some reason all risk people are obsessed with aircraft," says Eric Pinkerton, director of Hivint, a Trustwave Company. Everything you need to know about ransomware: how it started, why it's booming, how to protect against it, and what to do if…

Is your cybersecurity training reaching the right people?

Cybersecurity training should be targeted so it changes behaviours to minimise cyber harm. As the Victorian government found, the most appropriate targets might not be who you first think. There's plenty of talk about cybersecurity awareness. But how…

The real future of healthcare is cultural change, not just AI and other technology

"It actually is quite easy to be a futurist with regards to where are we going with health," says Dr Ron Grenfell, director of health and biosecurity at CSIRO. "It takes 15+ years to get evidence into practice," he told the Commonwealth Bank's Future…

My Health Record remains opt-out as Senate passes privacy amendments

The automatic creation of digital health records will continue as planned for all Australians who haven't opted out by the new deadline of January 31. The laws controlling Australia's contentious centralised My Health Record system will get…

Hunt finally submits to My Health Record arm-twists as opt-out window extended

"Today the Government worked with the Senate crossbench to extend the opt-out period for My Health Record," said health minister Greg Hunt in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. He confirmed that the opt-out period, due to end this Thursday, will now…

ADHA privacy boss reportedly quits as My Health Record faces first big test

The director of privacy at the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), which runs the My Health Record system, resigned last month over privacy concerns, according to a report by Fairfax Media. While the director, Nicole Hunt, declined to comment,…

Rushed My Health Record changes still missing the point

The latest round of changes to My Health Record announced on Wednesday address a few important community concerns, sure, but they fail to address the key structural problems. Strengthening the safeguards in cases of domestic violence: excellent.…

ADHA's non-process for releasing My Health Record data revealed

As of July 2018, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) appears to have no detailed policy or process for releasing My Health Record data to support regulatory and legal requests. The only internal policy guidance appears to have been the…