InfoHive – Data Security

The Texas Blockchain Council is working to make a Blockchain Caucus a reality in Texas.

The Texas Blockchain Council showed Texas Secretary of State a blockchain technology to authenticate government records.

The legislative goals:

• legislation to update the state’s Uniform Commercial Code
• legislation to enable broader blockchain infrastructure

NTX Inno | Texas Blockchain Council unveils first proof of concept in push to make the state an industry hub

Hawaii Health Department has launched AlohaSafe Alert app.

What does AlohaSafe Alert app do?

• Will alert app users if they’ve been in contact with anyone who is positive
• Relies on Bluetooth technology that is said to better protect personal data
• Will supplement contact tracing by the Hawaii Department of Health

What will count as exposure contact by an App user?

• if phones were in proximity to one another in the past 14 days
• at a distance of 6 feet or less
• for at least 15 minutes

How many states are using a contact tracing app? Dozen including California, Washington, and the District of Columbia

Honolulu Star Advertiser via Governing | Hawaii Launches App to Slow Down Rise in COVID Cases

Data drives health care innovation, but do regulations and laws protect that data?

How did COVID drive awareness to health care data privacy? COVID highlighted that the collection, use, sharing and further processing of data can help limit the spread of the virus 

Could blockchain help?

• It would anonymize health care data

Emerging Europe | Access to data can boost innovation in healthcare. But how can we ensure patient rights are protected?

What government is considering a State Crypto Currency? Sweden

What are Swedish banker concerns?

• Sweden is already a mostly digital, or cashless
• e-krona users can bypass middlemen, private banks, and connect directly to the Central Bank
• Commercial banks would become dependent on wholesale markets for liquidity
• the e-krona is set to be traceable, moving the Central Bank into an area it does not regulate: privacy

ambcrypto | Bankers in Sweden express concerns over e-Krona digital currency project

Autonomous vehicles rely on large-scale data collection. From road ways, to traffic laws to average human behavior.

Do laws address the data that Autonomous vehicles need? Not so much

What should AV laws address?

• Has there been consent to collect the data? Is express consent required?
• What data is collected? is it all defined as personal information?
• What protections are on data shared with 3rd party data companies? Like the company that has the data of human risk behaviors that works into an AV algorithm.
• Is the mapping data collected shared with local governments for transportation projects?
• Is the data shared across international borders?

Automotive World | Autonomous vehicle developments put focus on data compliance

The State: New York

How the facial recognition software ban came to be: AB 6787 (2020 | NY)

Is it a permanent ban? No, its a let’s wait until  July 1, 2022 & let’s study it

What happens on July 1st 2022? The State Board of Education President upon reviewing a study of the software could approve its use

What about school shootings? The software is mostly ineffective as most shooters are students who would not trigger the software

Route Fifty | A State Becomes the First to Suspend Facial Recognition Technology in Schools

Not a day goes by that we don’t see a headline about hackers. COVID increased the importance of Chief Information Officers from hacking prevention to solid disease trackers. COVID highlighted a big problem in access to technology when working from home and school from home didn’t work when there was no broadband access.  

Tech companies admitted that there are flaws in facial recognition software. Lots of cities and police departments said no, don’t want to be that person who gets the headline- we used facial recognition software and locked up an innocent 90 year old grandmother. 

We learned an interesting tech tip- you can’t actually trace cryptocurrency transfers. But, states have allowed Bitcoin to pay taxes and permitted bitcoin campaign contributions. So, we’ll see how that goes…

Phoenix is partnering with schools, technology companies and other city agencies to close the digital divide.

The sequential goals Phoenix is establishing:

• expanded access to connectivity to the entire 250-square-mile Phoenix Union High School District
• Expand to all school districts in Phoenix

State Tech | How Cities Are Forging Partnerships to Close the Digital Divide

COVID highlighted the disparity in access to broadband in San Antonio.

What data did San Antonio look to solve the disparity? San Antonio created an “Equity Atlas” that “visualizes the aggregated education level, income and primary language of different census tracts in the city,” 

What did San Antonio discover? The broadband divide starts to close at household incomes above $60,000 and that it is most stark in minority communities

San Antonio’s Plan:

•  spend $27 million 
• connect 20,000 school children
• build on an existing network infrastructure and personal Wi-Fi hotspots

State Tech | How Cities Are Forging Partnerships to Close the Digital Divide

Massachusetts Governor has returned a law enforcement reform bill to the Legislature asking it to remove a ban on facial recognition software.

Tech Crunch | Massachusetts governor won’t sign police reform bill with facial recognition ban