begin quoting Todd Walton as of Wed, Sep 07, 2005 at 11:06:51PM -0700: > I have an interesting challenge. Where I work there are strict > government regulations (called HIPAA) protecting the privacy of our > customers. By company policy, which is designed to conform to those > regulations, there must be no customer data on the computer screen if > there's no one sitting at the computer. To comply, windows can be > minimized, the screen can be turned off, etc. I'd like to find a way > to make this automatic, or at least partially so.
If there's no one sitting at the computer, or no one _authorized_ to be looking at that data in front of that computer? Complicated solutions could involve smart cards (on a lanyard, perhaps) or RFID bracelets, etc. The simplest solution is to combine training (never leave your terminal unattended without locking it), screen savers (short durations lacking activity engage 'em), and screen lockers (slightly longer durations lacking activity engage 'em). Screen "hotspots" are useful as well -- put the mouse in a certain corner, and the screen-locker/screen-saver immediately kicks in. (Is there a Linux tool out there that provides this functionality? It's quite nice in practice!) But training is perhaps the cheapest approach. And penalties -- institute a convention establishing voliation policy -- if you can get to someone's desktop with this data available, they "get" to buy you lunch. (Or bring in bagels and cream cheese for the whole office.) Encourage people to catch others out for the free lunch. If someone complains that they're always buying lunch, you have a nice clear indication that someone needs additional training... > It'd be cool if there were a spring sensor in the chair, and if it's > not depressed, all windows are minimized. s/all windows are minimized/no video signal to the monitor/ Interesting idea. > But that's a little over > the top, perhaps. A very short blank-to-screensaver time maybe? > Anybody have any suggestions? Is there Windows software that would > handle this kind of thing? Screensavers are now built-in to almost every consumer operating system, aren't they? -Stewart "Tell your work to buy you a Mac" Stremler -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
