Andrew Stephens

Redaction of medical records. Just reviewed yet another set of medical records redacted by utterly hopeless software. The NHS advises that "For most patients there will be very little or no information in their record that needs redacting. They are likely to be fully aware of the information recorded and shared about them, including hospital letters, test results, and information which refers to other people such as family history or a family letter". Despite this, redaction seems to remove what I can only describe as random words. I am quite certain that the words "baby" "children" (as in Bristol xxx's hospital!) "mother" "patient" (as in New XXX Registration Questionnaire"). "family" (as in "Do any members of your immediate XXX") have been redacted from these notes, as well as names of treating practitioners (at random since some are redacted some not). What about "If you have any XXX about your patient's participation". Each clinic letters has 20-30 words redacted. Records should in 99% of cases be provided without any redaction and providers should be reminded of this.

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ICO publishes guidance to improve transparency in health and social care: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is supporting health and social care organisations to ensure they are being transparent with people about how their personal information is being used. #dataprotection #dataprivacy #privacy

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Great discussions today at the NI whitepaper public procurement conference today A lot covered in my session on frameworks which I will post as an article in the coming weeks on where we are and where we are going! Slides for all of todays sessions can be found at https://lnkd.in/e_p2YnST

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ICO vs Experian, round 3! ICO loses again. Link & details below. The ICO's claim was that the First-Tier Tribunal misunderstood the GDPR's transparency principle. In assessing this, the Upper Tribunal explores how controllers should assess the level of transparency required of them, taking into account factors such as the nature of the data, processing, and potential harms caused. End result: a complete rejection of the ICO position. The Upper Tribunal found that whilst the First Tier Tribunal's decision was "neither well-structured nor well-reasoned" (oh dear!), it was not legally flawed. https://lnkd.in/eCSvMRRp #Privacy #UKGDPR

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🍪 A number of UK publishers have implemented cookie paywalls, requiring readers to either accept cookies in order to browse their websites or pay a subscription fee to reject them.🍪 Although guidance is yet to be published, the ICO's preliminary position seems to align with the European Data Protection Board, indicating that a binary choice between accepting cookies or paying does not comply with GDPR consent requirements. #commerciallaw #dataprotection #cookies #payorconsent #ico

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🚀 Exciting News from MeVitae! 🚀 We’re thrilled to announce that MeVitae is now available on the UK government’s G-Cloud 14 framework, making our HR document redaction tool accessible to public sector organisations! 🏛️ Key Benefits of MeVitae’s Redaction Tool: ✅ Comprehensive Redaction – Redacts sensitive details from CVs, cover letters, certificates, and more to ensure merit-based hiring. ✅ Seamless Integration – Easily integrates with 20+ existing ATS/HCM systems, enhancing current workflows without disruption. ✅ Enhanced Hiring Efficiency – Redacts over 1000 documents in under 3 minutes, speeding up the hiring process. ✅ High Accuracy – Achieves 95% accuracy in redaction, keeping focus on skills and potential. As demand for fair, efficient hiring solutions grows, we’re honored to support public sector bodies committed to inclusive hiring practices through G-Cloud 14. Read More here: https://lnkd.in/eaWsJjP3 Grow Your Way, Fairness Today. #MeVitae #HRTech #FairHiring #Inclusivity #GCloud14 #PublicSector #HiringInnovation

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We've had a facelift! The Legal Services webpages and support resources for Loughborough University colleagues have been refreshed and revamped. Since 2019, we have been building a suite of resources for staff to draw on when they encounter 'legal issues' in their role, but the number of resources had become unwieldly and so we have rationalised and updated them. I'm sure we'll keep adding more, but hopefully it will be easier and quicker to find what you need. We've also formally launched our 'Contracts: Fast Track to Success' course and community of practice for those colleagues around the University who handle contracts (of their many iterations) as part of their role. This has been in the works for some months and well done to Emily Kirk for driving this forward and leading the pilot. Through a mix of self-study and practical workshops, participants will have contracts demystified for them and we'll then connect them with peers dealing with contracts, as well as sharing updates and training opportunities. Colleagues can read more about our updated offering here: https://lnkd.in/euvm5kT8 And a big thank you to Paula Malins for your help in getting the new site up and running and for your patience with us for the ongoing tweaks and new content! #inhousesolicitor #legalleadership #highereducation #inhousecounsel #university #selfservice #lawresources #legalhelp #solicitor #inhouse #training

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🎙️ Public sector teams: ready for more insights on the Procurement Act? 🎙️ In this second episode of our “Transforming Public Procurement” microcast series, our Efficio public sector procurement experts continue to break down aspects of the programme into easy-to-understand conversations. This time, consultant Grace Tabb sits down with Principal Andy Craig to discuss the National Procurement Policy Statement and what it means for small and medium-sized enterprises and public sector teams. Got any questions or feedback? We’d love to know what’s on your mind. Comment below 👇 or get in touch with us directly: https://bit.ly/4fZ3sGh #publicsectorprocurement #publicsector #procurementprofessionals #procurementact 

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We have just launched the website for the UK Black Privacy Professionals Network (BPPN) - a unique platform for connecting PrivSec and AI professionals. #blackprivacyprofessionals #BPPN #DataPrivacy #Privacy #AI

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#UK_Riots There have been a lot of arguments celebrating the use of Facial Recognition surveillance Tech for the identification and arrest of fascist rioters in the UK. This is a convenient and opportunistic argument. Ex-post facto surveillance should not substitute effective policing. Scotland yard (as the situation in Croydon yesterday has shown) has the capacity to deploy boots on the ground, to not only stop/demobilise tensions, but also pre-empt an intended riot and/or counter-protest. They should not have to wait for the riot to happen because they can profile the offenders after the fact. The use of highly invasive (especially biometric data-esoteric ) AI technologies should be based on strict exigencies and as a last resort, It should not be the default response. A human rights based approach to AI demands that Facial Recognition surveillance tech only be used when its absolutely necessary to achieve the Public order/ National Security, and that it be the least privacy-invading option. In the present case, it simply isn’t. Police leadership continue to dispense “efficacy” propaganda for the procurement of AI tech to support policing. Governments need to diversify their advisory base in order to make intelligent decisions on AI.

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It was such a honour to speak at this month's edition of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) South West Regional Managers' webinar where I was invited to share my experience from the Ministry of Justice UK first of its kind Learning-to-Lead (LTL) conference in Manchester February 2024 tagged "Knowing and Utilising your Strengths". I was and I'm still grateful to have been randomly selected as one of the pioneer participants. LTL not only redefined leadership for me as being beyond formal roles and authority, but also deepened my understanding of values that embody real, transformative leadership: humility, kindness, curiosity, integrity, honesty, compassion, embracing diversity of strengths and personalities, and speaking truth to power. Fast-track to my presentation at the SW Managers' webinar, you would see from my Praise report that public speaking is not my forte; but I had help, which was the crux of my presentation. I am an incurable stickler for professional excellence. I respect the place of academic intelligence and brilliance; but, for me, it's relationships over everything else. I am blessed to be surrounded by a network of people genuinely committed to my growth and development. They invest their time, skillsets, experience and patience in mentoring, guiding and sometimes just listening to me...without pressure. The opportunity to speak at that webinar was borne out of that relationship ecosystem, not of any oratory prowess. Someone gave me that opportunity. Then they invested time to help me build confidence to speak to a large audience. Could a training course have helped? Maybe. But relationships take you further than a training course. Take a humble look at your network. You would realise that inside could be people who possess the street sense and experiences required to navigate the deep waters of life, experiences without which you could get stuck for a greater part of your professional life. They've built skillsets from success and failure (skillsets you may not find in the traditional school system) and they've remained loyal to their true worth. They don't celebrate mediocrity. In fact they have to first see you've got something to offer. When they find likeminded people who share similar values, they are more than happy to help. Carefully consider and audit your networks and decide which ones you want to cultivate, give value to and derive value from. Never take opportunities for granted, especially those that come from your network. If such opportunity aligns with your wider career goals, embrace it with gratitude, humility, integrity, loyalty, diligence, kindness, compassion and an instinct for excellence. And never betray trust. To all those from whom I've had help navigating my professional journey thus far, THANK YOU! You've made every step worthwhile so I don't always have to reinvent the wheel.

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LinkedIn Pauses AI Training with UK User Data Following ICO Concerns LinkedIn has halted the use of UK user data to train its AI models after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) raised privacy concerns. UK users can now opt out of having their data used for AI training. LinkedIn aims to engage further with the ICO to ensure compliance, emphasising that user data control remains a priority. This comes as other tech giants like Meta face similar scrutiny over data usage in AI development. #AI #DataPrivacy #LinkedIn #TechRegulation #GenerativeAI #UserData #ICO #TechCompliance

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We were expecting the announcement of an #AI Bill but it looks like #dataprotection might be higher on the UK Government's agenda... The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill might not have made it through the parliamentary wash up session but updating the UK data protection regime is still on the table. The new Digital Information and Smart Data Bill announced in the King's Speech yesterday teases some big plans, including reforming #datasharing, helping scientists and researchers make the most of data by "reflecting the realities of modern interdisciplinary science #research in our data laws" (good news for the #lifesciences sector?!), as well as modernising and strengthening the powers of the ICO. The new Bill also seems to revive some of the areas covered by the old DPDI Bill, including #digitalverification services and #smartdata schemes. Will we still see some of the more controversial changes of the DPDI Bill when the new Bill is introduced? What will this mean for the UK’s adequacy status? Exciting times ahead…

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