All posts tagged: data

Having a single parent doesn’t determine your life chances – the data shows poverty is far more important

Published by skeptic

Numerous research studies have suggested that children from a single-parent family are worse off than those who have two parents at home. These findings chime with decades of stigma that have painted coming from a single-parent home as undesirable. Understandably, you may find this worrying if you are a single parent – or if you’re thinking of embarking on parenthood alone. But it’s worth looking at the detail behind the stats. I reviewed the most up-to-date evidence for my book Why Single Parents Matter, and found that conclusions that suggest significant negative outcomes as a result of coming from a single-parent family are often not supported by strong data. For example, a 1991 meta analysis – a research paper that reviews the findings of numerous scholarly studies – is often cited as evidence of a negative impact. However, the study concludes that the “effects are generally weak, with methodologically sophisticated studies and more recent studies tending to find even smaller differences between groups”. Should I have children? The pieces in this series will help you …

China supplies data to WHO about clusters of respiratory illness | China

Published by Sam

Chinese health authorities have provided requested data on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The Chinese authorities said there had been no detection of unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and the north-eastern province of Liaoning, according to a WHO statement. Epidemiologists have warned that as, China heads into its first winter since the lifting of zero-Covid restrictions, natural levels of immunity to respiratory viruses may be lower than normal, leading to an increase in infections. Several countries, including the US and the UK, experienced large waves of respiratory viral infections in the first winter after Covid restrictions were lifted as people had lower natural levels of immunity. For young children, lockdowns delayed the age at which they were first exposed to common bugs. On 13 November, China’s National Health Commission held a press conference about the increase in respiratory disease cases. The health authority said that these cases were linked to pathogens such as influenza and …

British Library confirms data stolen during ransomware attack

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The British Library, the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s largest libraries, has confirmed that a ransomware attack led to the theft of internal data. In late October, the British Library first disclosed it was experiencing an unspecified cybersecurity incident that caused a “major technology outage” across its sites in London and Yorkshire, which downed its website, phone lines, and on-site services, such as visitor Wi-Fi and electronic payments. Two weeks on, and the British Library outage is still ongoing. However, the organization has now confirmed the disruption is the result of a ransomware attack launched “by a group known for such criminal activity.” The British Library said that some internal data has leaked online, which “appears to be from our internal HR files.” We’re continuing to experience a major technology outage as a result of a cyber-attack, affecting our website, online systems and services, and some onsite services too. We anticipate restoring many services in the next few weeks, but some disruption may persist for longer.… pic.twitter.com/Wdj7VfkWXa — British …

Hackers accessed sensitive health data of Welltok patients

Published by skeptic

Hackers accessed the personal data of more than a million people by exploiting a security vulnerability in a file transfer tool used by Welltok, the healthcare platform owned by Virgin Pulse. Welltok, a Denver-based patient engagement company that works with healthcare plans to provide communications to subscribers about their healthcare, confirmed in a data breach notification filed with Maine’s attorney general last week that hackers accessed the sensitive data of more than 1.6 million individuals. In a letter sent to those affected, Welltok said it was alerted to an earlier alleged compromise of its MOVEit Transfer server, a system that allows organizations to move large sets of often-sensitive data over the internet, after the system’s developer published details of a software vulnerability earlier this year. Welltok said it initially determined in July that there was no indication of a compromise. A second investigation, launched by the company in August, found that hackers “exfiltrated certain data” from Welltok’s MOVEit Transfer server. The compromised data includes individuals’ name, date of birth, addresses, and health information, according to …

Healthcare startups scramble to assess fallout after Postmeds data breach hits millions of patients

Published by skeptic

More than two million people across the United States will receive notice that their personal and sensitive health information was stolen earlier this year during a cyberattack at Postmeds, the parent company of online pharmacy startup Truepill. For some of those affected, it’s the first they’re hearing of Postmeds, let alone that the company lost their sensitive personal and health information during the data breach. News of the data breach also appeared to catch off-guard healthcare startups that previously relied on Postmeds to fulfill their customers’ prescriptions. Postmeds, or Truepill, is an online pharmacy fulfillment startup that fills prescriptions for big-name telehealth services and other pharmacies, and mails medications to their customers. Postmeds, through Truepill, has fulfilled prescriptions for customers of Folx, Hims, and GoodRx, and other popular online telehealth startups that have emerged in recent years. Even if you’ve never heard of Postmeds, the company may have filled one of your prescriptions and handled your information. Truepill’s website says it has delivered 20 million prescriptions to three million people since its founding in 2016. …

How to build a robust and adaptive data culture that instills investor confidence

Published by skeptic

Piyanka Jain, CEO of Aryng, is a renowned thought leader with over 20 years in data, analytics, and AI. A No. 1 Amazon best-selling author, she leads Aryng’s SWAT Data Science team, driving business success through data-driven decision-making. Securing funding for startups has never been a walk in the park, and the current economic volatility has made it even more demanding. According to PitchBook’s 2023 report, capital demand surpasses supply by a daunting 50.5% for early-stage and 67.1% for growth-stage ventures. Startups cannot rely on impressing with just metrics to attract investors. Investors want more; they want to understand the “why” behind a startup’s success, delving into the long-term growth trajectory. In my capacity as the CEO of Aryng, a data science consulting firm that helps startups and growing enterprises drive success with their data, I recently engaged in an insightful conversation with Cathy Tanimura, VP of Analytics and Data Science at Summit Partners. We discussed the critical role of building and nurturing a robust data culture. In a time when investors are exercising heightened …

Twitch launches Privacy Center to educate users about their personal data

Published by skeptic

In the name of transparency and accessibility, Twitch launched its new Privacy Center to educate users, after conducting “extensive research” and finding that many of its users had no idea how their personal data is collected and used. The Privacy Center, which launched on Thursday, breaks down how personal data is collected on Twitch and across the internet, and explains what users’ privacy choices actually mean. Seeking to go “beyond surface level transparency,” the company said in a press release, the Privacy Center is designed to provide “actionable information” about Twitch’s data use — without the “legalese and corporate speak.” “We think that privacy information has it be understandable, otherwise it isn’t really useful. Regardless of intention, if the info isn’t shared in a clear and accessible way, it’s a lot less valuable to the end user, and even less actionable,” Twitch continued. “We weren’t looking to create more work for our community, or provide a complex web to sift through under the guise of ‘transparency.’” Twitch’s user base skews younger; the company reports that …

Don’t be fooled by the AI apocalypse

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A guide to understanding which fears are real and which aren’t Illustration by The Atlantic November 16, 2023, 2:14 PM ET This is Atlantic Intelligence, an eight-week series in which The Atlantic’s leading thinkers on AI will help you understand the complexity and opportunities of this groundbreaking technology. Sign up here. Executive action, summits, big-time legislation—governments around the world are beginning to take seriously the threats AI could pose to society. As they do, two visions of the technology are jostling for the attention of world leaders, business magnates, media, and the public. One sounds like science fiction, in which rogue robots extinguish humanity or terrorists use AI to accomplish the same. You aren’t alone if you fear the coming of Skynet: The executives at the helm of the very companies developing this supposedly terrifying technology—at OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and elsewhere—are the ones sounding the alarm that their products could end the world, and efforts to regulate AI in the U.S. and the U.K. are already parroting those prophecies. But many advocates and academics say …

Children’s tablet has malware and exposes kids’ data, researcher finds

Published by skeptic

In May this year, Alexis Hancock’s daughter got a children’s tablet for her birthday. Being a security researcher, Hancock was immediately worried. “I looked at it kind of sideways because I’ve never heard of Dragon Touch,” Hancock told TechCrunch, referring to the tablet’s maker. As it turned out, Hancock, who works at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, had good reasons to be concerned. Hancock said she found that the tablet had a slew of security and privacy issues that could have put her daughter’s and other children’s data at risk. The Dragon Touch KidzPad Y88X contains traces of a well-known malware, runs a version of Android that was released five years ago, comes pre-loaded with other software that’s considered malware and a “potentially unwanted program” because of “its history and extensive system level permissions to download whatever application it wants,” and includes an outdated version of an app store designed specifically for kids, according to Hancock’s report, which was released on Thursday and seen by TechCrunch ahead of its publication. Hancock said she reached out to …

Samsung says hackers accessed customer data during year-long breach

Published by skeptic

Samsung has admitted that hackers accessed the personal data of U.K.-based customers during a year-long breach of its systems. In a statement to TechCrunch, Samsung spokesperson Chelsea Simpson, representing the company via a third-party agency, said Samsung was “recently alerted to a security incident” that “resulted in certain contact information of some Samsung U.K. e-store customers being unlawfully obtained.” Samsung declined to answer further questions about the incident, such as how many customers were affected or how hackers accessed its internal systems. In a letter sent to affected customers, Samsung admitted that attackers exploited a vulnerability in an unnamed third-party business application to access the personal information of customers who made purchases at Samsung U.K.’s store between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. The letter, which was shared on X (formerly Twitter), Samsung said it didn’t discover the compromise until more than three years later, on November 13, 2023. Samsung told affected customers that hackers may have accessed their names, phone numbers, postal addresses, and email addresses. “No financial data, such as bank or …