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.
Loyalty is the name of the game for places like Netflix and Hulu going forward, Callahan says. “It’s much easier to keep a customer than acquire a new one,” he explains. High turnover has been one...
The benefit is that you can cancel any time you want, and are only committed on a month-to-month basis. This might serve as a good move for Amazon, allowing people to dip their toes into the Prime wat...
Netflix has by far the most loyal subscribers of its competitors, according to new research by Parks Associates. Analysts found that Netflix subscribers were much less likely to cancel than those o...
Entry into the smart speaker market makes sense for a company with smart home aspirations. "As the success of Echo and Google Home took off, everyone expected Apple to follow suit," said Brad Russe...
