Privacy

Down the EU’s Right-to-Be-Forgotten Rabbit Hole

July 17, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>Implementation of the EU's right-to-be-forgotten policy appears to have hit some snags, as privacy regulators tussle with search engines over how they handle link removals. The right to be forgotten is the foundation of a directive allowing citizens to have links to "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive" information about them removed from search results.</strong></p>

‘Trounson Affair’ Another Strike Against California Stem Cell Agency

July 14, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>California's stem cell research funding agency needs a home run to score more public funding. Instead, a conflict-of-interest problem is giving it the wrong kind of attention.</p>

California Stem Cell Agency To Review Dealings With StemCells Inc.

July 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>California’s stem cell agency announced Wednesday it was taking steps to deal with a “risk of conflict of interest” two days after its former president took a position with a company that the state agency had been funding.</p>

Stem Cell Boss Joins Board He Funded

July 9, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<h2> Trounson goes to work for StemCells Inc., which has received $19.4M</h2> <p>Alan Trounson, then president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, poses for a portrait at his offices in San Francisco, Monday, March 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) <em> — AP</em></p> <div class="story-body"> <p>The former head of California's stem cell agency, which is handing out $3 billion of voter-approved funds for research, has joined the board of a major grant recipient one week after leaving his post.</p>

Stem Cell Agency Outlines Steps To Prevent “Potential Conflict of Interest” With Ex-President

July 9, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Two days after the ex-president of California’s stem cell agency became a board director at a company that is receiving funding from the agency, the agency said Wednesday it is taking steps to “mitigate a potential conflict of interest.”</p>

Shameful Conflicts of Interest Involving California’s Stem Cell Agency

July 9, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Alan Trounson, until very recently president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), has accepted a position on <a href="http://www.thestreet.com/story/12765616/1/stemcells-inc-appoints-dr-alan-trounson-to-board-of-directors.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the board of StemCells, Inc.</a>, a company that has had <a href="http://cirm.ca.gov/our-progress/institutions/stemcells-inc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$19,399,504</a> in grants from CIRM. If the clinical trials that CIRM is partly funding pay off, he could make a bundle on stock options (details of his compensation are not available).

Ex-President of California Stem Cell Agency Now On Board of StemCells Inc.

July 8, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>StemCells Inc.’s board of directors now includes the former president of the California stem cell agency that gave the company $19.4 million in research funding.</p>

Watchdog Says Trounson-StemCells, Inc., Connection Casts ‘Shadow’ Over California Stem Cell Agency

July 8, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The San Francisco Chronicle today carried a story on the appointment of Alan Trounson, former president of the $3 billion California stem cell agency, to the board of  StemCells, Inc., which has received $19.4 million from the research program.</p> <p>Trounson’s appointment came only seven days after he left state employment. Last year, members of the firm's board received as much as $99,800 in cash and company stock, as reported by the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/">California Stem Cell Report yesterday.</a></p>

Microsoft Puts Data Privacy on Its Branding Agenda

July 8, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>As some of its competitors have been battered over their policies for protecting student data, <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx">Microsoft Corp.</a> has sought to make sure that the issue—and what it regards as its strong record on privacy—remain firmly in the public eye.</p> <p>But as the company moves aggressively to position itself as a protector of student-data privacy, some say it also runs the risk of a backlash if it doesn't back up its talk with the kind of vigilance the technology giant promises to deliver.</p>

Stem Cell Researchers Under Pressure To Produce

July 7, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>In laboratories across California, scientists are racing to turn stem cells into therapies for some of the world's most debilitating illnesses from cancer to Alzheimer's.</p>

Covered California Questions Measure To Regulate Health Insurance Prices

July 4, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/jul/04/covered-california-voices-concerns-about-prop-45">Click here to listen to the audio of this radio news broadcast</a>.</p> <p> </p> <div class="story_body"> <div class="inline inline_audio_clip inline-left "> <img alt="Radio news logo" class="banner" src="http://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/static/kpbs/images/news/banner-radio-news-inline.gif" /></div> </div> <p> </p>

Covered California Board Members Being Pressured to Release Emails

July 2, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span style="font-size: 14px;">There's pressure on California's health insurance exchange to go public with board members' communications. But the board is using a technicality to deny the request.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 14px;">The group Consumer Watchdog is still trying force Covered California to release emails exchanged between the health exchange's board members and insurance companies as part of a public records request.  </span></p>