Why your smartwatch and wearable devices are the next big privacy nightmare

guest · Jan 14, 2019

Why your smartwatch and wearable devices are the next big privacy nightmare
January 14, 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/smartwatch-data-collection-rush-raises-privacy-backlash-fears/

Around $20bn a year will be spent on wearable devices, health trackers and remote patient-monitoring devices within five years, according to tech research company Juniper Research.

While activity trackers have proved popular with some consumers, mobile operating system and smartphone vendors are now also looking to encourage the use of their devices as part of an individual's healthcare, adding features to turn their devices into hubs for storing and interpreting health and medical data.

Juniper forecasts that five million individuals will be remotely monitored by healthcare providers by 2023. Doctors will be able to use the data generated by wearables combined with AI-enabled software analytics to proactively identify individuals at risk.

As wearables become part of patients' treatment plans, device makers will look to make money by selling data generated by those wearing the devices, for example, selling data produced by the devices to insurance providers.
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guest · Jan 14, 2019

Start with banks, then we can talk about the others.

Krusty · Jan 12, 2020

How safe are GPS trackers for children — and what should you know before buying one?

[...]
'Strangers could call her'
From watches and wristbands to smartphone apps, the burgeoning market for around-the-clock monitoring is often sold as an extra layer of security for those who need it most — and for families like the Rogers, it's a no brainer.

But having the ability to remotely monitor someone's location gives way to one inevitable question: If I can see where they are, who else can?

It's a question security researcher Troy Hunt, who runs the website Have I Been Pwned?, has been putting to the test.

According to Mr Hunt, tracking devices marketed to parents have a long history of having "pretty serious problems" — so much so that Germany banned their sale outright, and US consumer groups have asked the government to investigate if they run afoul of laws concerning privacy and consumer protection.

After buying a TicToc Track watch for his six-year-old daughter Elle, Mr Hunt was able to exploit security flaws to show how strangers could see where she was and even change how her location was being displayed.

"But the strangest one was the ability to change who her parent is [in the settings] so strangers could call her," he said.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-08/gps-trackers-for-children-what-do-you-need-to-know/11627208

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