Voters Agree on Nothing Except Data Privacy
Apple is working on technology that would allow it to detect depression and cognitive impairment, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The company is conducting research with UCLA and the pharmaceutical firm Biogen to see if it can match sensor data on mobility, sleep patterns, typing behavior, and more to mental health and cognitive ailments.
This represents a possible next generation of biometric intelligence, the perhaps predictable, but not inevitable, conclusion of Apple’s already widely accepted habit of measuring signals such as how many steps we take and whether we exercise via iPhones and smart watches.
This is a perfect example of a high-sensitivity data collection pursuit for which Apple should obtain extremely clear and granular consumer consent.
Your facial expressions and typing patterns should not be analyzed to make conclusions about your emotions without your express permission. But the norms of today’s tech market suggest it’s likely Apple would collect that data without your knowledge or by asking for it in a swift or deceiving privacy policy.
The increasing intimacy of personal data analysis is another urgent reason to Reklaim your data.
Consensus across party lines is extraordinary in US politics these days.
Yet voters overwhelmingly agree that they’re concerned about data privacy and want the government to do more to safeguard their information.
Eighty percent of registered voters, including 83% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans, agree the government “needs to do everything it can to curb the influence of big tech companies that have grown too powerful and now use our data to reach too far into our lives.”
(Sounds like voters would be delighted about the aforementioned Apple depression prediction engine, right?)
Almost everyone says they would like to know more about their data and have more control over who gets to collect and monetize it. But aside from Reklaim, there’s no place for consumers to reclaim their data — and, we’re sorry to say, the US federal government is not going to help with that.
We’re thankful you’re leading the movement to Reklaim your data.
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