4 ms·

Does Apple monetize their health data? I'm not talking selling ads against it, but monetize it in any way? Do we consider that harmful too?

explodingman 6y ago
Apple can monetise user data by keeping it private and offering privacy as a feature to drive hardware sales/margins. I don't know for sure if this is their business model. I think it is, and it makes sense as a strategy.
- ehsankia 6y ago
  > I don't know for sure if this is their business model. That's the point, and you also don't know for sure what Google's business model with the health data will be either. The GP post I was replying said that it was obvious Google was monetizing the data, and implying that it was therefore bad. My point is that if monetizing health data is inherently bad, then so is what Apple is doing.
  - Talanes 6y ago
    Was that the implication? I got more of a "Of course they will monetize it, that's how corporations handle assets" vibe. Because monetize is a meaningless word here. Unless Google suddenly decides to go against their fiduciary responsibility and purposefully lose money, any use of the data is going to be somehow monetizing it.
_jal 6y ago
Last I looked, Apple Health data doesn't leave the phone - there's no "cloud" aspect. They could of course change that, or sneakily exfil it. The first hasn't happened yet, and the second would destroy a vast amount of consumer trust well before all the lawsuits started. So I do rather doubt it.
- username90 6y ago
  > Last I looked, Apple Health data doesn't leave the phone - there's no "cloud" aspect. Apple Health data is stored in the cloud, why would you think otherwise? They don't store all of it but they do store some. > They could of course change that, or sneakily exfil it. The first hasn't happened yet It already happened, Apple Health data was always stored in the cloud.
  - ceejayoz 6y ago
    Sorta. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209519 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209519 > If you're using iOS 12 or later and have turned on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID, health records are encrypted using end-to-end encryption through iCloud. This means only you can access this information, and only on devices where you’re signed in to iCloud. No one else, not even Apple, can access end-to-end encrypted information.
  - _jal 6y ago
    > why would you think otherwise? Because it wasn't the case in the past and I don't use Apple Health or backup to other people's machines, so I don't care enough to stay up to date on the particulars. Prior to IOS 9 it did not store health data in the "cloud", except as an encrypted blob in a backup. https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/quick-tip-icloud-can-now-backup-and-restore-health-data/ https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/quick-tip-icloud-...

explodingman 6y ago

Apple can monetise user data by keeping it private and offering privacy as a feature to drive hardware sales/margins. I don't know for sure if this is their business model. I think it is, and it makes sense as a strategy.

ehsankia 6y ago
> I don't know for sure if this is their business model. That's the point, and you also don't know for sure what Google's business model with the health data will be either. The GP post I was replying said that it was obvious Google was monetizing the data, and implying that it was therefore bad. My point is that if monetizing health data is inherently bad, then so is what Apple is doing.
- Talanes 6y ago
  Was that the implication? I got more of a "Of course they will monetize it, that's how corporations handle assets" vibe. Because monetize is a meaningless word here. Unless Google suddenly decides to go against their fiduciary responsibility and purposefully lose money, any use of the data is going to be somehow monetizing it.

_jal 6y ago

Last I looked, Apple Health data doesn't leave the phone - there's no "cloud" aspect. They could of course change that, or sneakily exfil it. The first hasn't happened yet, and the second would destroy a vast amount of consumer trust well before all the lawsuits started. So I do rather doubt it.

username90 6y ago
> Last I looked, Apple Health data doesn't leave the phone - there's no "cloud" aspect. Apple Health data is stored in the cloud, why would you think otherwise? They don't store all of it but they do store some. > They could of course change that, or sneakily exfil it. The first hasn't happened yet It already happened, Apple Health data was always stored in the cloud.
- ceejayoz 6y ago
  Sorta. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209519 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209519 > If you're using iOS 12 or later and have turned on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID, health records are encrypted using end-to-end encryption through iCloud. This means only you can access this information, and only on devices where you’re signed in to iCloud. No one else, not even Apple, can access end-to-end encrypted information.
- _jal 6y ago
  > why would you think otherwise? Because it wasn't the case in the past and I don't use Apple Health or backup to other people's machines, so I don't care enough to stay up to date on the particulars. Prior to IOS 9 it did not store health data in the "cloud", except as an encrypted blob in a backup. https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/quick-tip-icloud-can-now-backup-and-restore-health-data/ https://www.macobserver.com/tips/quick-tip/quick-tip-icloud-...