linkstream2 microblog

http://preview.reuters.com/2013/8/7/for-henrietta-lacks-famous-cells-new-and-unique-1

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/07/us-science-hela-idUSBRE9760YD20130807

QT:"

The decision applies only to researchers funded by NIH, which said it
"encourages" other scientists to abide by the agreement. Because
DNA-sequencing technology is cheap and ubiquitous in genetics labs,
the HeLa genome has been partly sequenced many times, and can easily
be fully sequenced again.

"Sequencing" refers to determining the precise order of the chemical
letters on a person’s genome, which is the full library of his or her
genetic information. Bits and pieces of that sequence spell out, for
instance, whether someone is at risk of diabetes or Alzheimer’s or
other genetic traits, as well as personal traits like the consistency
of ear wax.

These loopholes in the access agreement significantly weaken the NIH
move, said Mark Gerstein, a computational biologist at Yale University
who has raised concerns about threats to genetic privacy. "I doubt NIH
will get blanket agreement from scientists in every country" to follow
its protocol, "so it’s not clear what the agreement will be able to
accomplish."

"

http://preview.reuters.com/2013/8/7/for-henrietta-lacks-famous-cells-new-and-unique-1

QT:”

The decision applies only to researchers funded by NIH, which said it “encourages” other scientists to abide by the agreement. Because DNA-sequencing technology is cheap and ubiquitous in genetics labs, the HeLa genome has been partly sequenced many times, and can easily be fully sequenced again.

“Sequencing” refers to determining the precise order of the chemical letters on a person’s genome, which is the full library of his or her genetic information. Bits and pieces of that sequence spell out, for instance, whether someone is at risk of diabetes or Alzheimer’s or other genetic traits, as well as personal traits like the consistency of ear wax.

These loopholes in the access agreement significantly weaken the NIH move, said Mark Gerstein, a computational biologist at Yale University who has raised concerns about threats to genetic privacy. “I doubt NIH will get blanket agreement from scientists in every country” to follow its protocol, “so it’s not clear what the agreement will be able to accomplish.”

“

http://crypto.stanford.edu/PwdHash

on mail covers program :

Not just electronic comm. surveilled: Tracking postal metadata similarly to NSA email snooping http://bit.ly/15oZmNs via
@michaellawcarl

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/us/monitoring-of-snail-mail.html

QT:”
Mr. Pickering was targeted by a longtime surveillance system called mail covers, a forerunner of a vastly more expansive effort, the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States — about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government saves the images.

Together, the two programs show that postal mail is subject to the same kind of scrutiny that the National Security Agency has given to telephone calls and e-mail.

The mail covers program, used to monitor Mr. Pickering, is more than a century old but is still considered a powerful tool. At the request of law enforcement officials, postal workers record information from the outside of letters and parcels before they are delivered. (Opening the mail would require a warrant.) The information is sent to the law enforcement agency that asked for it. Tens of thousands of pieces of mail each year undergo this scrutiny.
“

#Stealth Wear… Statement. Focuses on hiding visually; what about sound & chemicals? via @GardnerCampbell, @nytimes
http://bit.ly/125fh4J

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/technology/stealth-wear-aims-to-make-a-tech-statement.html

wikileaks :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-spying-un

(
The US government has other efforts to related to collecting DNA including http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/jason/hundred.pdf
or
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/codis
.)

QT:”
But there was the potentially politically explosive matter of privacy. Unlike Facebook, where users were at least giving the campaign explicit permission to collect personal data even if they had not read the fine print, television watchers were making no such agreement. To address this, the campaign and Rentrak hired a third party to “anonymize” the data so that they would only know that the information was coming from a set-top box of somebody on the persuadable list; identifying information would be stripped away.
”
What if they didn’t hire a 3rd party ? Is this something the government can do ?

Determine who the swing voters are & what they’re watching, so you can target pol ads. Impressive mining but a little scary from privacy perspective

Find swing voters & what they watch to target pol ads. Impressive #mining but a little #privacy scary
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/magazine/the-obama-campaigns-digital-masterminds-cash-in.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/magazine/the-obama-campaigns-digital-masterminds-cash-in.html

Can IT staff be trusted ? MT @nytimes: N.S.A. Leak Puts Focus on System Administrators

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/technology/nsa-leak-puts-focus-on-system-administrators.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0&pagewanted=all

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/346318841367908352
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/science/poking-holes-in-the-privacy-of-dna.html

QT:”
June 16, 2013
Poking Holes in Genetic Privacy
By GINA KOLATA

Not so long ago, people who provided DNA in the course of research studies were told that their privacy was assured. Their DNA sequences were on publicly available Web sites, yes, but they did not include names or other obvious identifiers. These were research databases, scientists said, not like the forensic DNA banks being gathered by the F.B.I. and police departments.
…
Experts were startled by what Dr. Erlich had done. “We are in what I call an awareness moment,” said Eric D. Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Research subjects who share their DNA may risk a loss of not just their own privacy but also that of their children and grandchildren, who will inherit many of the same genes, said Mark B. Gerstein, a Yale professor who studies large genetic databases.
…
“

Press Release about HELA genome, which came out before all the controversy

http://www.embl.de/aboutus/communication_outreach/media_relations/2013/130311_Heidelberg/index.html Havoc in biology’s most-used human cell line – Press Release Heidelberg, 11 March 2013

In a nutshell:
• Scientists deliver the first high-resolution sequence of HeLa cells, a key research tool for human disease and general biology
• Sequence analysis reveals the full extent to which HeLa cells are different to the Human Genome Project reference
• Resource could enhance the quality of research using HeLa cells