FTC Reportedly Seeking Apple’s Assurance About Protecting Health Data

A recent study that we reported on yesterday revealed what kind of personal information do people consider to be sensitive. Coming in first place with the majority vote was social security numbers, followed by health and medication information. Well for those who agreed that health and personal medication is sensitive information, you will be pleased to learn that the FTC has taken great interest in protecting your privacy.

According to a report from Reuters, it seems that the FTC is seeking assurances from Apple that the health information collected in the HealthKit framework and the Health app, as well as biometrics collected from the mobile devices and the upcoming Apple Watch will not be used without the owner’s’ consent.

Reuter’s sources have revealed that both Apple and the FTC have met up with each other several times to discuss the matter, in which Apple has reassured the FTC that they will not be selling the data to third-parties, such as marketers. In fact if you might recall, Apple updated its licensing agreement in iOS 8 that explicitly forbids developers from sharing HealthKit data.

There is no indication at the moment that the FTC will be launching a formal investigation into the matter, but in the meantime Apple is preparing themselves for the possibility by hiring health data protection lawyers and could be thinking about hiring a health privacy expert to help deal with future concerns.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple
Tags: ftc, healthkit