Gift WaPo article here. Not that I'm paranoid, but I'd find this uncomfortable
...One of history's largest corporations may soon know more about me than I do — and that ought to make anyone uncomfortable....
...The writing has been on the wall for some time that mega-corporate consolidation is coming to health care. Insurance giant Aetna merged with CVS. Amazon made its interest known by buying online pharmacy PillPack and developing products like the Halo Band, a wearable gadget that gathers body information and dishes out advice. And when Amazon gets into a business, it doesn't tend to just stick to the sidelines...
...Amazon's cross-industry tentacles give a superpower to data to develop incredible insights about individuals — which it can use to find very precise ways to manipulate us and the economy. It probably isn't the best idea to have our streaming services and health care come from the same company...
...Amazon's twisted priorities really hit home for me when a colleague and I reviewed the Halo, its first health device — and hands-down the most invasive tech I've ever tested. It asks you to strip down and strap on a microphone so that it can make 3D scans of your body fat and monitor your tone of voice. No joke, it has a computer tell you if it thinks you sound "condescending." It would be funny if it wasn't a very serious possibility that this company may soon own my doctor's office and have all my medical records....
...Yes, America has a health privacy law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. But HIPAA wasn't written for the internet age; as I've found again and again, lots of companies find completely legal ways to grab intimate health data for marketing and other purposes with "consent" few patients realized they were giving...
...The writing has been on the wall for some time that mega-corporate consolidation is coming to health care. Insurance giant Aetna merged with CVS. Amazon made its interest known by buying online pharmacy PillPack and developing products like the Halo Band, a wearable gadget that gathers body information and dishes out advice. And when Amazon gets into a business, it doesn't tend to just stick to the sidelines...
...Amazon's cross-industry tentacles give a superpower to data to develop incredible insights about individuals — which it can use to find very precise ways to manipulate us and the economy. It probably isn't the best idea to have our streaming services and health care come from the same company...
...Amazon's twisted priorities really hit home for me when a colleague and I reviewed the Halo, its first health device — and hands-down the most invasive tech I've ever tested. It asks you to strip down and strap on a microphone so that it can make 3D scans of your body fat and monitor your tone of voice. No joke, it has a computer tell you if it thinks you sound "condescending." It would be funny if it wasn't a very serious possibility that this company may soon own my doctor's office and have all my medical records....
...Yes, America has a health privacy law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. But HIPAA wasn't written for the internet age; as I've found again and again, lots of companies find completely legal ways to grab intimate health data for marketing and other purposes with "consent" few patients realized they were giving...
