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

Amazon’s Fire TV Cube Makes Its Debut

Another industry insider, Parks Associates’ Brett Sappington, said during the Pay TV Show last month in Denver that Amazon is the only company to get à la carte TV right and that the company could sim...

HBO Launching Streaming Service in Spain With Vodafone

Partnering with British-based telecom Vodafone, which claims 400 million subscribers in 30 countries globally, including 1 million TV subs in Spain, affords HBO an existing distribution channel. Spain...

The Internet Of How Many Things?

“Online giants have the scale and technology to take risks in new areas of innovation,” said Brett Sappington, senior research director, Parks Associates. “In some cases, these innovations are transfo...

Parks: Millennials Covet OTT Video — And Pay-TV

Parks said nearly 60% of OTT video services in North America are subscription-based. About 64% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to an OTT video service, up from 59% in 2015. Average monthly spen...

‹
1
2
...
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
...
733
734
›