Privacy, modesty, hospitality, and the design of Muslim homes: A literature review

Traditional Islamic teachings and traditions involve guidelines that have direct applications in the domestic sphere. The principles of privacy, modesty, and hospitality are central to these guidelines; each principle has a significant effect on the design of Muslim homes, as well as on the organization of space and domestic behaviors within each home. This paper reviews literature on the privacy, modesty, and hospitality within Muslim homes. Nineteen publications from 1986 to 2013 were selected and analyzed for content related to the meaning of privacy, modesty, and hospitality in Islam and the design of Muslim homes. Despite the commonly shared guidelines for observing privacy, modesty, and hospitality within each home, Muslims living in different countries are influenced by cultural factors that operate within their country of residence. These factors help to shape the architectural styles and use of space within Muslim homes in different ways. Awareness of the multifactorial nature of the influences on the Muslim perception of home and the use of space is necessary for architects, building designers, engineers, and builders to be properly equipped to meet the needs of clients.

Are Australian homes liveable and adaptable for Muslim families? - Six case studies in Brisbane

This paper investigates how Muslims living in Brisbane live within their current Australian homes and the liveability and adaptability of these homes from the perspective of home dwellers with respect to their Islamic faiths, cultural traditions and lifestyle. A qualitative case study approach was used to gather information about Muslims’ use of domestic spaces through their lived experiences, within an Australian context. Six participants were interviewed, including: a) three Muslim families residing in one suburb of Brisbane, and; b) three international Muslim students living in three different Brisbane suburbs. These cases indicate that apart from minor difficulties, case study participants were able to perform their daily activities within their current homes through various adaptations made to ensure their respective domestic domains provided their families with privacy and a sense of security and safety. Insight gained from these cases suggest the need for more research into the homes of Muslims homes within an Australian context and the development of culturally adaptable housing as a means of meeting the diverse needs of modern Australian multicultural society.

Now we can “see the forest and the trees too” but there are risks : Camera trapping and privacy law in Australia

The use of camera traps in wildlife management is an increasingly common practice. A phenomenon which is also becoming more common is for such camera traps to unintentionally film individuals engaged in a variety of activities, ranging from the innocent to the nefarious and including lewd or potentially embarrassing behaviour. It is therefore possible for the use of camera traps to accidentally encroach upon the privacy rights of persons who venture into the area of surveillance. In this chapter we describe the legal framework of privacy in Australia and discuss the potential risk of this sleeping tiger for users of camera traps. We also present the results of a survey of camera trap users to assess the frequency of such unintended captures and the nature of activity being filmed before discussing the practical implications of these laws for camera traps users in this country and make recommendations.

Transparent, balanced and vigorous: The exercise of the Australian Privacy Commissioner's powers in relation to National Privacy Principle 4

This thesis considers whether the Australian Privacy Commissioner's use of its powers supports compliance with the requirement to 'take reasonable steps' to protect personal information in National Privacy Principle 4 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Two unique lenses were used. First, the Commissioner's use of powers was assessed against the principles of transparency, balance and vigorousness and secondly against alignment with an industry practice approach to securing information. Following a comprehensive review of publicly available materials, interviews and investigation file records, this thesis found that the Commissioner's use of his powers has not been transparent, balanced or vigorous, nor has it been supportive of an industry practice approach to securing data. Accordingly, it concludes that the Privacy Commissioner's use of its regulatory powers is unlikely to result in any significant improvement to the security of personal information held by organisations in Australia.

The dawn of the age of the drones:An Australian privacy law perspective

Suppose a homeowner habitually enjoys sunbathing in his or her backyard, protected by a high fence from prying eyes, including those of an adolescent neighbour. In times past such homeowners could be assured that they might go about their activities without a threat to their privacy. However, recent years have seen technological advances in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (‘UAVs’), also known colloquially as drones, that have allowed them to become more reduced in size, complexity and price. UAVs today include models retailing to the public for less than $350 and with an ease of operation that enables them to serve as mobile platforms for miniature cameras. These machines now mean that for individuals like the posited homeowner’s adolescent neighbour, barriers such as high fences no longer constitute insuperable obstacles to their voyeuristic endeavours. Moreover, ease of access to the internet and video sharing websites provides a ready means of sharing any recordings made with such cameras with a wide audience. Persons in the homeowner’s position might understandably seek some form of redress for such egregious invasions of their privacy. Other than some kind of self-help, what alternative measures may be available?

The Global Protection of Personal Health Data

The workshop is an activity of the IMIA Working Group ‘Security in Health Information Systems’ (SiHIS). It is focused to the growing global problem: how to protect personal health data in today’s global eHealth and digital health environment. It will review available trust building mechanisms, security measures and privacy policies. Technology alone does not solve this complex problem and current protection policies and legislation are considered woefully inadequate. Among other trust building tools, certification and accreditation mechanisms are dis-cussed in detail and the workshop will determine their acceptance and quality. The need for further research and international collective action are discussed. This workshop provides an opportunity to address a critical growing problem and make pragmatic proposals for sustainable and effective solutions for global eHealth and digital health.

Information Security and Privacy : Proceedings of the 9th Australasian Conference, ACISP 2004, Sydney, Australia, July 13-15, 2004.

Preface The 9th Australasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy (ACISP 2004) was held in Sydney, 13–15 July, 2004. The conference was sponsored by the Centre for Advanced Computing – Algorithms and Cryptography (ACAC), Information and Networked Security Systems Research (INSS), Macquarie University and the Australian Computer Society. The aims of the conference are to bring together researchers and practitioners working in areas of information security and privacy from universities, industry and government sectors. The conference program covered a range of aspects including cryptography, cryptanalysis, systems and network security. The program committee accepted 41 papers from 195 submissions. The reviewing process took six weeks and each paper was carefully evaluated by at least three members of the program committee. We appreciate the hard work of the members of the program committee and external referees who gave many hours of their valuable time. Of the accepted papers, there were nine from Korea, six from Australia, five each from Japan and the USA, three each from China and Singapore, two each from Canada and Switzerland, and one each from Belgium, France, Germany, Taiwan, The Netherlands and the UK. All the authors, whether or not their papers were accepted, made valued contributions to the conference. In addition to the contributed papers, Dr Arjen Lenstra gave an invited talk, entitled Likely and Unlikely Progress in Factoring. This year the program committee introduced the Best Student Paper Award. The winner of the prize for the Best Student Paper was Yan-Cheng Chang from Harvard University for his paper Single Database Private Information Retrieval with Logarithmic Communication. We would like to thank all the people involved in organizing this conference. In particular we would like to thank members of the organizing committee for their time and efforts, Andrina Brennan, Vijayakrishnan Pasupathinathan, Hartono Kurnio, Cecily Lenton, and members from ACAC and INSS.

The security and privacy of usage policies and provenance logs in an Information Accountability Framework

The potential benefits of shared eHealth records systems are promising for the future of improved healthcare. However, the uptake of such systems is hindered by concerns over the security and privacy of patient information. The use of Information Accountability and so called Accountable-eHealth (AeH) systems has been proposed to balance the privacy concerns of patients with the information needs of healthcare professionals. However, a number of challenges remain before AeH systems can become a reality. Among these is the need to protect the information stored in the usage policies and provenance logs used by AeH systems to define appropriate use of information and hold users accountable for their actions. In this paper, we discuss the privacy and security issues surrounding these accountability mechanisms, define valid access to the information they contain, discuss solutions to protect them, and verify and model an implementation of the access requirements as part of an Information Accountability Framework.

2nd International Workshop on Secure and Privacy-Aware Information Management in eHealth

Information security and privacy in the healthcare domain is a complex and challenging problem for computer scientists, social scientists, law experts and policy makers. Appropriate healthcare provision requires specialized knowledge, is information intensive and much patient information is of a particularly sensitive nature. Electronic health record systems provide opportunities for information sharing which may enhance healthcare services, for both individuals and populations. However, appropriate information management measures are essential for privacy preservation...

Residents’ experiences of privacy and comfort in multi-storey apartment dwellings in subtropical Brisbane

Dwellings in multi-storey apartment buildings (MSAB) are predicted to increase dramatically as a proportion of housing stock in subtropical cities over coming decades. The problem of designing comfortable and healthy high-density residential environments and minimising energy consumption must be addressed urgently in subtropical cities globally. This paper explores private residents’ experiences of privacy and comfort and their perceptions of how well their apartment dwelling modulated the external environment in subtropical conditions through analysis of 636 survey responses and 24 interviews with residents of MSAB in inner urban neighbourhoods of Brisbane, Australia. The findings show that the availability of natural ventilation and outdoor private living spaces play important roles in resident perceptions of liveability in the subtropics where the climate is conducive to year round “outdoor living”. Residents valued choice with regard to climate control methods in their apartments. They overwhelmingly preferred natural ventilation to manage thermal comfort, and turned to the air-conditioner for limited periods, particularly when external conditions were too noisy. These findings provide a unique evidence base for reducing the environmental impact of MSAB and increasing the acceptability of apartment living, through incorporating residential attributes positioned around climate-responsive architecture.

Gossip we can trust: Defamation law and non-fiction

Drawing on two case studies, this article considers the allegation of a disgruntled author: ’Defamation was framed to protect the reputations of 19th century gentlemen hypocrites'. The first case study considers the litigation over Bob Ellis' unreliable political memoir, ’Goodbye Jerusalem', published by Random House. The second case study focuses upon the litigation over the allegation by Media Watch that Richard Carleton had plagarised a documentary entitled ’Cry from the Grave'. The article considers the meaning of defamatory imputations, the range of defences, and the available remedies. It highlights the competing arguments over the protection of reputation and privacy, artistic expression, and the freedom of speech. This article concludes that defamation law should foster ’gossip we can trust'.

Author's reply to: Ankylosing spondylitis: evidence for a non-HLA-B*27 protective effect, Sjef Van Der Linden, Desieree Van Der Heijde

As mentioned in the letter by van der Linden and van der Heijde, Jurgen Braun’s excellent recent paper describing a survey of blood donors by questionnaire, clinical, and magnetic resonance imaging examinations revealed a prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis in B27 positive blood donors (6.4%)1-1 very similar to that reported by Gran et al(6.7%).1-2 It is probable that some of the differences in reported prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis by the various studies are because of methodological differences.

Omission of author name in the article by Davidson et al (Arthritis Rheum, July 2013)

This article corrects: Brief Report: High-Throughput Sequencing of IL23R Reveals a Low-Frequency, Nonsynonymous Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism That Is Associated With Ankylosing Spondylitis in a Han Chinese Population Vol. 65, Issue 7, 1747–1752, Article first published online: 2 JUL 2013

Medical Data Access Accountability in EHR Systems, A Practical Perspective

The world has experienced a large increase in the amount of available data. Therefore, it requires better and more specialized tools for data storage and retrieval and information privacy. Recently Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems have emerged to fulfill this need in health systems. They play an important role in medicine by granting access to information that can be used in medical diagnosis. Traditional systems have a focus on the storage and retrieval of this information, usually leaving issues related to privacy in the background. Doctors and patients may have different objectives when using an EHR system: patients try to restrict sensible information in their medical records to avoid misuse information while doctors want to see as much information as possible to ensure a correct diagnosis. One solution to this dilemma is the Accountable e-Health model, an access protocol model based in the Information Accountability Protocol. In this model patients are warned when doctors access their restricted data. They also enable a non-restrictive access for authenticated doctors. In this work we use FluxMED, an EHR system, and augment it with aspects of the Information Accountability Protocol to address these issues. The Implementation of the Information Accountability Framework (IAF) in FluxMED provides ways for both patients and physicians to have their privacy and access needs achieved. Issues related to storage and data security are secured by FluxMED, which contains mechanisms to ensure security and data integrity. The effort required to develop a platform for the management of medical information is mitigated by the FluxMED's workflow-based architecture: the system is flexible enough to allow the type and amount of information being altered without the need to change in your source code.