Status Report 4

It seemed as if no time had passed: the anaesthetist injected my spine, and next thing I knew I was waking in recovery. Keyhole surgery to remove my left kidney was completed on Tuesday 17 March, and I expect to leave the Western General on Saturday 21 March. Meanwhile, progress on diagnosing the amyloid spotted in my liver: I had a bone marrow biopsy on Thursday 19 March, and two days of testing at the National Amyloidosis Centre in London are to be scheduled. NHS has provided excellent care all around.

My room was well placed for watching the partial eclipse this morning. A nurse with a syringe helped me jury rig a crude pinhole camera (below), but it was too crude. Fortunately, there was exactly the right amount of cloud cover through which to view the crescent sun. My fellow patients and our nurses all gathered together, and for five minutes it was party time on the ward.

Update: I left the hospital as planned on Saturday 21 March. Thanks to Guido, Sam, Shabana, Stephen, and Jonathan for visits; to Marjorie for soup; to Sukkat Shalom council for a card and to Gillian for hand delivery; and to Maurice for taking me in while my family was away.

Related: Status report, Status report 2, A paean to the Western General, Status report 3.

Multiple inheritance

Retweeted by Don Syme.

Petraeus won't serve a day in jail for his leaks. Edward Snowden shouldn't either.

Trevor Timm in the Guardian argues that David Petraeus' crimes, inspired by adultery, are more serious than Edward Snowden's, inspired by liberty.

The sweetheart deal the Justice Department gave to former CIA director David Petraeus for leaking top secret information compared to the stiff jail sentences other low-level leakers have received under the Obama administration has led to renewed calls for leniency for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. And no one makes the case better than famed whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

Ellsberg, the first person ever charged under the Espionage Act or any other statute for leaking the Pentagon Papers to Congress and seventeen newspapers, told me on Thursday: “The factual charges against [Edward Snowden] are not more serious, as violations of the classification regulations and non-disclosure agreements, than those Petraeus has admitted to, which are actually quite spectacular.”

It’s hard to overstate the shocking nature of the government’s case against Petraeus. The information that he gave Paula Broadwell, his friendly biographer with whom he was then having an extramarital affair, was among the most sensitive in the US government. According to the indictment, Petraeus gave Broadwell eight black books containing “classified information regarding the identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions, quotes and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings … and [his personal] discussions with the president of the United States.”

Status Report 3

I have a date for keyhole surgery to remove my kidney: Tuesday 17 March. This fits what I was told previously, so all is to schedule. Recovery time is likely to be four weeks. I expect to be in hospital until Monday 23 March: visitors most welcome! Please call the Western General, or Level 4 office has my contact details.

My liver biopsy took place on Thursday 19 February; the hardest part was to lie still for six hours after. I had meetings with my infectious disease doctor on Wednesday 25 February and with my cardiologist on Monday 2 March. My endocarditis is clear, but will need to be monitored once a year. The biopsy shows a deposit of amyloid protein; experts are being consulted, but it has no effect on my surgery. My thanks to all my doctors and the staff at the Western General, who have been excellent.


Related: Status report, Status report 2, A paean to the Western General, Status report 4.

An Open Letter to John Swinney

Dear John Swinney,

I sat in the gallery yesterday to watch the debate on Privacy and the State. As a member of the Open Rights Group, I have a keen interest in the subject.

The Identity Management and Privacy Principles, published in October 2014 with your name on the foreword, states in Section 4.6:

If a public service organisation needs to link personal information from different systems and databases (internally or between organisations), it should avoid sharing persistent identifiers; other mechanisms, such as matching, should be considered.

Willie Rennie and Patrick Harvie drew attention to the proposal that stakeholders should share the Unique Citizen Reference Number (UCRN). Using the UCRN as a key would link multiple databases, in effect forming a super-database, which is what concerns those who object to the plan. In your closing speech, Harvie intervened to ask you to acknowledge that the proposal breaches the Scottish Government's own guidelines. You responded:

I do not believe that the proposal breaches the data privacy principles that we set out.

Time was short, so you said no more, but I invite you now to elaborate on your bald denial. The proposal certainly appears to contravene the principle  advocated by your own document---how can you claim it does not?

It is not only your own guidelines which question your plan. The British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners have raised concerns about sharing information collected by the NHS with HMRC, and the UK Information Commissioner has warned that the proposal may breach European and British data protection laws. Both these criticism were raised during the debate, but ignored by you---I invite you to answer them as well.

There are ways forward that meet the needs of government and citizens that are far less problematic. I welcome your offer to review the proposals, and I hope that in light of these criticisms the Scottish Government will rethink its plans.

Yours,

Philip Wadler
Professor of Theoretical Computer Science
School of Informatics
University of Edinburgh

Related:

Minutes of the debate on Privacy and the State

Identity Management and Privacy Principles

Report of the debate from BBC News

Philosophers

This may come in handy next time I need to lecture on Russell's Paradox. From SMBC.

Watchdog says plan for super-database could create national ID number for every Scot

The Herald Scotland  has got the message. Let's hope Holyrood does as well.

Watchdog: SNP plan for super-database could create national ID number for every Scot.

Say no to a Scottish national ID system

The Scottish government has opened for consultation plans of that would lead to database sharing among a vast range of organisations, and could lead to the introduction of de facto ID cards via the back door. Responses to the consultation are due by 25 February 2015. ORG Scotland writes:

A minor, barely noticed consultation is not the way to make a major change to Scottish citizens’ privacy and their relationship with the state. Creating a national ID register was rejected by the SNP and the UK, and the bare minimum should be for the Scottish Executive to introduce primary legislation whereby the public and MSPs can debate the nature of these changes and whether they are acceptable.

Respond to the consultation quickly, courtesy of ORG.

ORG is planning meetings to discuss how we can stop the Scottish Government's plans in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and is tracking developments in their blog.

Here is the original consultation,  and a detailed response by ORG.

A paean to the Western General

I resided in Ward 42 of the Regional Infectious Disease Unit of Edinburgh's Western General Hospital from 17 Dec—2 Jan. For most of the time I received antibiotic by drip or injection every four hours, day and night, and I thought my stay would be six weeks. Fortunately, my infection reacted well to antibiotic and I could be released early for outpatient treatment.

The building is ugly, but the people inside it are beautiful. I cannot recall another time or place where everyone was so unfailingly helpful and friendly. On the first day, a nurse found a staff member willing to lend me a charger when my phone ran down. The doctors took as much time as needed to answer my questions. The nurses were cheerful despite constant interruptions. The men who brought the coffee remembered that I liked it with milk, and one often asked after my twins (he had twins as well). No one objected when my daughter brought me a poster of the Justice League and I blue-tacked to my wall; several admired it.

Most often, I interact with institutions where the people who help you are, clearly, in it for the pay. They are nice only to the extent required by their job, and often less than that. Part of the difference in attitude here must be that the people know they are actively helping patients in need. I take my hat off to an institution that inculcates a caring attitude in everyone.

(Picture above courtesy of The Edinburgh Sketcher, whose pictures adorn a couple of corridors in the Western General. The RIDU is a different building, though somehow every building in the complex contrives to be equally unattractive.)

Related: Status report, Status report 2.

Status Report 2

An update to my status. My doctors continue to monitor my heart infection, but it appears cleared up, along with the problems in my abdomen.

I met with my urologist on 4 Feb. My latest CAT scan (27 Jan) shows a small mass in my liver and that the tumour on my left kidney has not grown. The mass is unlikely to be a metastasis of the tumour, but the first order of business is to biopsy my liver; this should happen in the next two weeks, and it may take a further two weeks to get the results. Meanwhile, I am on the waiting list for keyhole surgery to remove my left kidney; this should happen in about six weeks. (Hospitals are fined £1000 if it takes more than four weeks, but the Western General currently has thirty people over that limit.) Recovery time is about four weeks. So, with luck, back to work in ten weeks, mid-April.

All four kidney surgeons at the Western General are in the top 10% in the country, so I am in good hands. If keyhole surgery converts to ordinary surgery the recovery time is three months; this happens in 4% of cases. My doctor says it is unlikely to happen to me because, compared to most of his patients, I am young, fit, and slim. Not words I usually hear applied to myself!

Previously: Status report, A paean to the Western General.