The price for living in the future - health tracking edition
Table of Contents
Whats the price I’m willing to pay to live in the future?
Thats what I’m asking myself lately - mostly in regard to health-tracking. There are so many things I would like to try out, but there is always a price to pay. For smartphones it is giving ‘all your data’ to a giant US corporation or to have a barely working phone if you don’t.
Then there are all the QS gadgets I would love to use - but haven’t. On the one hand most are quite expensive, but on the other hand privacy concerns have been holding me back.
Lets investigate my concerns about using a tracking device which can measure heart rate, maybe blood oxygen, as well as movement/activity.
What’s the angle somebody could play at me?
Szenario 1: Somebody is looking to target me for personal gains
An individual attacker/hacker who gains access to my (live) data
The person would know when I sleep and when I’m active - and maybe derive when it would be a good time to come and visit my home without my consent.
In negotiations this would also be a very strong edge, if you would know right before we negotiate a deal, that I didn’t sleep well and didn’t have my coffee you might chose a different strategy from when you know that I just had sex and my body is super relaxed.
What else can we think of? Please send me an email @ rabbitholediaries@protonmail.com with other attack vectors that come to your mind!
Scenario 2: The system is evil
There could be a systematic attack where this data would suddenly be collected for the health insurance system to determine my risk and make me pay according to my risk.
That would suck on the one hand, but on the other hand it stands to argue, that I would probably benefit from this.
If I voluntary track my vitals its also likely that I start acting upon the signals my body gives me in a measurable form. So I think using such a device can make me more healthy in the long run.
Then there is the question of underlying medical conditions on which I don’t have an influence.
That would probably a worst case scenario if I would get excluded or have to pay higher premiums because a predisposition would be known because of this.
How could I remedy this?
By not using my clear name in buying and in using the device I could achieve a level of pseudonymity which should be enough for the most basic attacks on my personal data for use in a systematic way.
On the other hand that would probably not cover against attack Scenario 1 where one individual is determined to find something out about me specifically.
OK - so after putting my thoughts into writing I come to the following conclusion:
Getting a health-tracking device should not be a problem if I use it in a pseudonymous way where a system would not be able to easily figure out who I am.
And to safeguard against attacks on my person I should not provide data right before any critical meetings to any cloud services which could allow others to draw conclusions on my state of mind.
What would all in look like?
So now the question remains: Do I go all in?
Down the rabbit hole step one:
Get an oura ring or equivalent - this is basically the same as a smart watch but slimmer and easier to wear at night.
Down the rabbit hole step two:
Blood glucose measuring - this now costs almost as much as step one but on a monthly basis. It could help me figure out how my body reacts to not eating and would be interesting to combine it with fasting.
And further down
The next step would be to combine the blood glucose with a wearable EEG monitor to see how my glucose levels effect my thinking and how well I can concentrate.
Ok, just don’t stop just yet
How about adding blood gas analysis to the mix and figuring out a well balanced diet based on body chemicals. Fertility checkups could also fall into this step, as this is often a good measure for the overall health of our bodies (if no pre-conditions exist).
There are so many more branches of this rabbit hole I would like to explore, like sleep tracking, calorie burn rate on an average day working with my brain (just like athletes do), and EEG step could lead to so many interesting discoveries and opportunities.
Whats your take on health tracking?
Let me know on twitter which devices you are using @rabbitholediary
Or even better - lets start a conversation via email at @ rabbitholediaries@protonmail.com about your experiences or privacy concerns!
Lot’s of love to all of you (especially who are reading this (-: )