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My Take | Corporations are tracking every heartbeat of my life

Technology is all well and good but when it follows you every step of the way, then it’s time to worry

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Technology is all well and good but when it follows you every step of the way, then it’s time to worry. Photo: Bloomberg
Alex Loin Toronto

People talk about big data and some even fret about its dangers. It’s all very well but seems extremely abstract and remote. Explain to me like I am an eight-year-old, please.

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These days, I am more worried about the seamless and endless collection of small – and very person-specific – data.

My life insurance company has been so nice as to give me a free wearable. It’s not an Apple Watch, but it will do. The company promises to lower or at least maintain my current policy premium so long as I wear it often enough for them to check my vital signs and exercise routines – or the lack of them.

Soon the company is going to know more about my health status than my family doctor – blood pressure, heart rates, time and duration of physical exercise and who knows what else.

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I am beginning to think wearable tech is not so benign, after all.

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