Amazon Halo and Amazon Halo Band. Photo: Business Wire
Yesterday, Amazon unveiled a new health and fitness tracking wristband called Halo, along with a subscription service and app, to rival existing wearables like the Apple Watch and Fitbit.
The $100 gadget comes with new features beyond what existing consumer health devices already offer: one that measures your percentage of body fat and another that analyzes your emotional state by listening to the tone of your voice. Like other wearable trackers, it also monitors physical activity, heart rate, and sleep phases.
One of the oldest and largest North American life insurers, John Hancock, is partnering with Amazon to offer its members a free Amazon Halo device and a three-year membership, which typically costs $3.99 a month. In exchange, members will have to hand over their data to their insurer, which will use it to award discounts on premiums and other rewards.
Other insurers could follow Hancock’s lead. Insurance companies are increasingly turning to tracking apps to monitor policyholders more closely, raising concerns over privacy, accuracy, and even discrimination.
In 2018, John Hancock announced it was transitioning its business model to only sell these so-called interactive policies, which allow plan holders to share data from smartphone apps and wearable devices.
“Consumers know that companies have a ton of data about them these days.”
The company has an existing app that integrates with the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and now Amazon Halo. Policyholders can earn points for doing things like exercising, buying healthy foods, and seeing their doctor. Those points accumulate and determine someone’s status level, which allows them to get discounts on their premiums and choose their own rewards, like gift cards. Brooks Tingle, president and CEO of John Hancock Insurance, tells OneZero that the company’s “most engaged” participants earn a 25% reduction on their life insurance premiums. People can choose not to share their data, but they don’t get the same perks.
“Consumers know that companies have a ton of data about them these days,” Tingle says. “We are very clear about how we’ll use the data and how we won’t use the data. Customers really like that idea of ‘Hey, you’re giving me something in return for sharing data.’”
Insurance companies have been experimenting with wearable tech for a few years — mostly in pilot programs — but Amazon Halo potentially offers more data to insurers than previous wearables.
Tingle says his company is only interested in members’ sleep habits, heart rate, and activity data. It won’t be using voice tone or body fat information generated by Amazon Halo to calculate points. That’s not to say other insurers won’t take advantage of that data though.
Insurance companies benefit from having more healthy members, and by offering wearables and apps to members, they’re betting that people will make healthier choices if they know they’re being monitored. Plus, Tingle argues, connecting fitness trackers to a program like John Hancock’s can incentivize users to stick with their wearables. “Once people start,” he says, “they don’t drop off like you might see them drop off in other settings. We’ve been very pleased with the results.”
The Amazon Halo-John Hancock partnership is part of a trend of insurance companies seeking personal data to motivate people to make healthier choices. Last year, Fitbit teamed up with UnitedHealthcare, the biggest health insurer in the United States, to offer its devices to some plan holders. Under the program, people with high-deductible health plans can earn more than $1,000 per year for out-of-pocket health care expenses by meeting a daily walking goal.
Another health insurer, New York-based Oscar, offers an app to plan holders that syncs to Apple Health, Google Fit, and other activity-tracking apps. Users can earn $1 a day if they meet their daily step goal and then cash out the money for an Amazon gift card. Aetna and Humana have also launched apps that offer rewards in exchange for meeting health goals.
While these initiatives and similar employer wellness programs promise enticing benefits to participants, there’s also a dark side to health tracking tied to rewards and insurance premiums.
“Your insurer may even be able to figure out when you’re having sex.”
“I think there can be a real element of coercion to participate in insurance companies’ wellness programs because participation can lower premium costs or give you access to other services that usually cost money,” says Kellie Owens, PhD, a sociologist and health researcher at Data & Society, an independent nonprofit research organization in New York City.
While a nudge from a wearable may be the boost some people need to get their daily exercise, a subset of people get so caught up in monitoring their activity that they become obsessive, anxious, or depressed. The effects of regularly using a body fat scanner and voice tone analyzer are unknown, but these features could have similarly negative effects.
There are also privacy, security, and accuracy concerns. As Lisa Carver, PhD, an assistant professor in kinesiology and health Queen’s University in Canada, pointed out in 2018, “your insurer may even be able to figure out when you’re having sex.” And while insurers pledge to keep your data safe, data breaches at health insurance companies are on the rise.
Owens says there are questions about the accuracy of wearables, too. One of the risks of using information from health trackers to adjust insurance premiums or offer rewards is that the data could be incorrect or misleading.
Amazon says Halo uses “multiple advanced sensors” to provide “highly accurate information,” but Halo isn’t a medical device. Unlike the Apple Watch and some other devices, Halo’s functions haven’t been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. While its body scan feature may very well be a better indicator of health than a simple calculation of a person’s body mass index, a measurement that many scientists say is flawed, Amazon hasn’t released data on how well it works. (The company says it may do so in the future though.)
As for its tone feature, voice analysis for mood detection isn’t new, but relying on it as a health indicator could be fraught since emotional expression can differ among men and women and across cultures.
Halo and other devices may also come with baked-in bias. For instance, there’s evidence that heart rate monitors don’t work as well in people of color. And in Amazon’s own description of Halo, the company notes that its emotional tone feature currently works best for American English speakers.
“I just wonder what that means for people speaking other languages or English with an accent, particularly if those folks are being incentivized to send that data to insurance wellness programs in some way,” Owens says. “Would they be less likely to receive financial or health benefits that other members are eligible for?”
If more insurers adopt these types of programs that use tracking apps and wearables, such incentives could potentially create economic inequities. People who don’t want to share data from activity trackers with their insurers — or those without the means to develop healthier habits — could be forced to pay more for insurance. For now, these insurance programs are optional, but it’s not hard to imagine them becoming the norm in the future.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
