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

Most Broadband Homes Have Pay TV and OTT Subscriptions

More than half of all U.S. homes with broadband subscribe to both a pay TV service and at least one over-the-top video service, according to a new study by Parks Associates. In its OTT Video & TV E...

The Internet Isn't Yet Ready for the Video Explosion

As more streaming services have become available, the demands on the existing Internet infrastructure have increased exponentially. In 2016, another 27 new subscription-based video streaming platforms...

Amazon And Apple: A New Battle For A $500 Billion Market

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) are not really true, all-out competitors like Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is with both of them. Apple does not have a general retail operation and...

Google Makes First Major Chromecast Update Since 2015

It’s perhaps the most affordable living room OTT solution on the market. But as the Parks Associates graphic released in late May shows, Chromecast has been steadily losing market share to Roku, Amazo...

‹
1
2
...
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
...
733
734
›