Register

I agree with the Privacy Policy

In The News

Survey: Consumers Prefer Keeping Wearable Device Data from Insurers

August 17, 2015

remote health monitoring

connected health devices

fitness tracker

According to research firm Parks Associates, the majority of those surveyed indicated that they are not willing to share data collected from wearable devices, even if it meant receiving a discount on their health insurance premiums. In spite of this reluctance, these same consumers were willing to share data for the purpose of troubleshooting the devices themselves.

The results of the survey varied significantly by device. Forty-two percent of digital pedometer owners were willing to share data in order to receive a health insurance discount; for smartwatch owners the total was 35 percent; and for sleep-quality monitor owners it was 26 percent. Nevertheless, a solid majority of device owners was not willing to share data.

Consumers are justified in their concerns about health data privacy. The Los Angeles Times told in July of a security breach in October 2014 where hackers compromised UCLA Health Systems’ computer network, putting 4.5 million patients’ sensitive data at risk. What was troubling about the incident was that it took nearly seven months from the time suspicious activity was discovered in October, to May 5, which is when investigators determined the system was hacked. Additionally troubling was that the data was not even encrypted.

From the article "Survey: Consumers Prefer Keeping Wearable Device Data from Insurers" by Christopher Mohr.

Previously In The News

New Study Shows The Growing Decline of Cable TV

In what is a growing list of bad news for traditional pay-TV services, it turns out fewer Americans rely on just traditional pay-TV services. Over half of all pay-TV subscribers also subscribe to a st...

BMW’s Connected Future Vision Getting Closer

Parks Associates, a market intelligence firm, claims that while connectivity is still in its infancy, it is moving along rather quickly. “We’re moving past the early adopter phase of connected cars,”...

The Idiocy of Things Requires an “Information Habeas Corpus”!

The public is awakening to the new Orwellian threat of big data while acknowledging all its potential benefits. We do not need many of the products promoted for profit in the Internet of Things. New s...

Top 10 Streaming Services Ranked

Sling TV is on its way up and Sony PS Vue is still outside of the top 10 OTT services. Parks Associates released its 2016 top 10 service providers list showing a stable top 5 with indications that all...

‹
1
2
...
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
...
738
739
›