Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Survey: Consumers Prefer Keeping Wearable Device Data from Insurers

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

Finally: Every Baseball Team’s Sports Network Is Available On At Least One Streaming Service

As YouTube TV’s recent rate hike shows, these services themselves are not immune to rising programming costs. And the same traits that make streaming much less customer-hostile than cable or satellite...

Netflix Earnings Preview: Is Streaming Video Giant Still Snagging New Subscribers?

On top of that, the industry churn rate—a metric used to reflect cancelled subscriptions to streaming services overall—shot up 41% in Q1, the most recent statistic available, as consumers experimented...

A Challenge For Video Streamers Will Be Keeping Subscribers

A Parks Associates analysis reported that SVOD churn rate dropped from 46% in third quarter 2019 to 38% in third quarter 2020. Among recent launches, the churn rate of Disney+ was at 13%, and HBO Max,...

Amazon's Alexa Speaks To The Connected Home

The Amazon Echo (more commonly known as “Alexa” based on the keyword voice command that triggers the female-sounding response) came on the market in November of 2014 to generally positive acclaim. The...