Note: This post contains links only accessible within the Government of Canada network. In my last GCconnex update about the recent user survey, I encouraged everyone to contribute their opinions about the look, feel, and usability of the Government of Canada’s internal professional networking platform via the GCconnex Professional Network Pilot Working Group forum.  I’m [...]

It seem we’re regularly being served additional reminders about the way we sometimes use social messaging to our detriment, and with increasing frequency, how it is sometimes being used against us. Consider the Janine Krieber kerfuffle, where the wife of former Canadian Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion criticized the current state of the party in [...]

An Apology — In a previous post I outright lied misspoke when I said: “I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now, but have ended up abandoning — then deleting — every blog I’ve ever started.” In fact, I’ve neglected to delete Canadian Privacy Roundup — a “blog” which I’ve been alternately maintaining and [...]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4Arguments Against Universality It is often argued that socialized medicine in the US would introduce a wealth of problems, worse than those currently faced. Government is often regarded as wasteful, rigid and out of touch with the real needs of its citizens. In comparison, private [...]

Recently, I received a Wave invitation from a twitter colleague (thanks Steve! — and before you inundate him with requests, realize that he’s probably exhausted his supply). I’ve been much too bogged down at work to even make an initial exploration into Wave’s use, but as things are about to ease up a bit, now’s [...]

I apologize if you’re reading this; I’d hoped that the title would dissuade you. Not reading?  Good. A few things have happened that made me realize the necessity of lightening things up around here.  The first of these is a re-realization of the fact that I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now, but [...]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4The Industry of Illness It is a reality of our time that the same companies promoting health care products are also largely responsible for underwriting their research. Skepticism about this model of business has led to pharmacoeconomic studies of the popular antidepressants, which demonstrate a [...]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4Spending More, Getting Less — The Public System Because of their identity as government programs, societal scepticism about the US government’s ability to manage efficiently, and the relative reduction of power and status allotted to the primary recipients of public health care (the poor and [...]

Update: Feb 15, 2010 — Since this post was originally published, the Democrats lost their vote in the US Senate, but the Obama Administration is still pushing for a major overhaul of the American health care system. Twenty-one members of Congress (12 Democrats and 9 Republicans) have been invited to a conference on healthcare set [...]

Since beginning my position as a privacy analyst a couple of years ago, I have gained increasing appreciation for the difficulty involved in protecting personal information in documents while still granting necessary access to sensitive material for legitimate use. Even when the information changes hands within a small and protected group, as it does with [...]