July 2010

Data protection authorities in the U.K. said this week that they are satisfied that Google's recent unauthorized Wi-Fi data collection did not include any meaningful personal data about residents in the region.

"On the basis of the samples we saw we are satisfied so far that it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data," the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said after ICO officials went to Google's office to examine the U.K. data. "There is also no evidence as yet that the data captured by Google has caused or could cause any individual detriment." "We wanted to make our own judgment as to the likelihood that significant personal data had been retained and, if so, the extent of any intrusion," the organization said. That examination led the ICO to conclude that the data "does not include meaningful personal details that could be linked to an identifiable person." ICO stressed that it could not comment on data collected in other countries, and said it will "remain vigilant and will be reviewing any relevant findings and evidence from our international counterparts' investigations."

On July 27, lawmakers and hospital officials attending a House Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing expressed concerns about the federal government's final rule for designating "meaningful use" of electronic health records. Chief among the issues discussed was an objection to the government's classification of hospital systems with several facilities as one entity for the purpose of incentive payments. Hearing attendees also questioned whether the certification process for EHRs will be implemented in time to meet deadlines established under the federal stimulus package, which assigns penalties beginning in 2015 for non-compliance.

Like a mantra, officials from both the Bush and Obama administrations have trumpeted how the government's sweeping interventions to prop up the economy since 2008 helped avert a second Depression. Now, two leading economists wielding complex quantitative models say that assertion can be empirically proved.

In a new paper, the economists argue that without the Wall Street bailout, the bank stress tests, the emergency lending and asset purchases by the Federal Reserve, and the Obama administration's fiscal stimulus program, the nation's gross domestic product would be about 6.5 percent lower this year. In addition, there would be about 8.5 million fewer jobs, on top of the more than 8 million already lost; and the economy would be experiencing deflation, instead of low inflation. The paper, by Alan S. Blinder, a Princeton professor and former vice chairman of the Fed, and Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, represents a first stab at comprehensively estimating the effects of the economic policy responses of the last few years.