Since 2009, corporations dealing with well being information have been required to inform shoppers if their knowledge is breeched. Now, the rule has been prolonged to well being apps that observe health, very important statistics, sleep and extra. The FTC ruled 3-2 that corporations producing such apps should inform customers impacted by knowledge breaches, lest they face a monetary penalty of over $43,000 per day, The Hill has reported.
“As many Americans turn to apps and other technologies to track diseases, diagnoses, treatment, medications, fitness, fertility, sleep, mental health, diet, and other vital areas, this Rule is more important than ever,” the FTC wrote within the ruling. “Firms offering these services should take appropriate care to secure and protect consumer data.”
A extra basic downside is the commodification of delicate well being data, the place corporations can use this knowledge to feed behavioral advertisements or energy consumer analytics.
Recent high-profile breaches embody UnderArmour’s MyFitnessPal breach that affected 150 million customers in 2018. A more moderen knowledge leak took place attributable to an exposed server that contained 61 million information associated to health trackers and wearables that uncovered Apple and Fitbit customers’ knowledge on-line.
The rule handed alongside occasion strains, with the bulk Democratic commissioners voting 3-2 in favor. However, the Republican commissioners dissented as a result of the FTC was already engaged on revamping well being breach notification guidelines. “The right way to go about it is to conclude the ongoing rulemaking process, especially when the statutory and regulatory interpretation on which the majority rely is far from clear,” stated commissioner Noah Phillips.
FTC Chair Lina Khan stated the ruling is simply the beginning of what is wanted. “A more fundamental problem is the commodification of sensitive health information, where companies can use this data to feed behavioral ads or power user analytics,” Khan stated. “The Commission should be scrutinizing what data is being collected in the first place and whether particular types of business models create incentives that necessarily place users at risk.”
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