
HIV status of over 14,000 people leaked online, Singapore authorities say - doppp
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/28/health/hiv-status-data-leak-singapore-intl/index.html
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potatofarmer45
It never ceases to amaze me how the weakness of a secure system is always the
people. It's common to see companies invest in "encrypted databases" and "on
premises data storage" in the name of security while not spending the time and
money to ensure the users can only see the information they need to see.
Nobody should ever be able to just download the entire table like that.

Typically in this use case, you'd think the system would be set up such that
users can only query full individual records if they work on the case itself
OR limited (retracted) records for the entire population.

That's how we handle our customer database. If you work as a customer service
agent, you can pull the entire record of a single customer but not more than 1
at a time and rate limited. For out data analytics team, you have access to
all the records without the personal information (users are given a random
unique userID. no names, addresses, emails, or phone numbers). The rationale
is simple, we don't want anyone to be able to simply download our customer
database and spam them.

In this case, the consequences are much worse for the people affected.

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est31
> Nobody should ever be able to just download the entire table like that.

Easily said, but even the NSA couldn't protect from an insider obtaining tons
of internal documents. Nor could google prevent the theft of LIDAR sensor
trade secrets.

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oliwarner
_Didn 't_ not _Couldn 't_.

These access issues [commonly] aren't bugs, they're laziness. Shared volumes
to speed up collaboration, no granular permissions, or relying on threat of
access audit to keep people in line. In most of these networks, mechanisms
exist that could have limited access to those that need it.

And part of that is the technological culture of how we've been taught to
share files. We still commonly rely on third parties to handle big transfers.

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austhrow743
Any Australians who might not have opted out of our government centralised
health record system starting up, just a heads up that you've only got three
more days to do so.

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anitil
Even despite the risk and probably inevitable leaks, I think a system like
this is invaluable for epidemiological research. I'm not opting out. (Besides,
the Red Cross has leaked a fair portion of my medical information anyway)

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fwn
I'm not an expert and I know that a healthcare system requires the handling of
personal data. While this data might end up aggregated at some level, I'm not
entirely sure that a registry like this is required to exist in the first
place.

For me it looks far too sensitive to have it as one central database. (... all
assuming that it wasn't compiled by those who leaked it.)

edit: "sensible" doesn't actually mean what I thought it does. Replaced it
with "sensitive".

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pthomas551
Keep in mind that Singapore is a police state where homosexuality is illegal
and HIV positive foreigners are subject to immediate deportation.

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threatofrain
In a Wild Wild West sense, you are ultimately in charge of your data and your
outcomes. Because it doesn't matter what kind of laws supposedly constrain
your insurance company or your accountancy; nobody can unring a bell, and it's
human nature for information to spread.

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martin_a
As a German I have to say that registers for people are a great idea!

We have had very positive experiences with labeling people. While we had to do
this in an analog way the last time, the label itself really helped a lot with
"dealing" with people who were a problem.

I think if we would make registers like these again, modern technology would
really help us to be even more efficient the next time.

Don't see what could go wrong, especially when political leaders change etc.

/s

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laurentlb
Whenever someone moves to Germany, they have to get registered. One of the
question is about the religion (for tax purposes). I'm surprised Germany still
uses this kind of registry.

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sorokod
Curious - how does one's religion affects one's taxes?

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martin_a
It's not so much about the religion itself, but whether you are "active"
member of a confession.

If you are, you will pay a "church tax" like 1% of your income. If you are
not, you don't have to pay that tax.

So it's more about tax collection and distribution than about anything else.

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sorokod
So in tax terms atheism makes sense?

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shaki-dora
Yes. It is, I believe, 3% of income tax, i. e. about 1% of income for most
people.

