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

With 1 Gbps speeds, Verizon’s 5G fixed wireless service will leapfrog the competition

And speeds appear to matter. Parks Associates reported way back in 2015 that fully one quarter of Americans who switched to a new ISP "did so in order to obtain a faster service at a comparable price....

Cord-Cutting On The Rise In The US

“Pay TV subscriptions have dropped each year since 2014, falling to 81% of US broadband households in Q3 2016,” said Brett Sappington, senior director of research, Parks Associates. “Several factor...

Parks: US Churn Rate For OTT Services Is 19%

This is according to Parks Associates’ latest ‘OTT Video Market Tracker’ stats, which said that overall churn rate for OTT services has been roughly stable for the past year. At the end of 2015, 20...

AT&T kills Plenti loyalty program but touts ongoing Thanks campaign

Parks Associates reported last year that 60% of respondents in a survey valued a rewards program for being a loyal customers, third only to the ability to roll over unused data (66%) and free access t...

‹
1
2
...
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
...
733
734
›