Apple iWatch Release Date News: Smartwatch Falls Under FTC Scanner
The Apple Watch, due for release early next year, is being scrutinized by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which seeks to find out whether the device is able to guarantee that users' data is kept safe.
The FTC was compelled to undertake the scrutiny because of the new features of the smartwatch, including the monitoring of pulse rate, and movement.
Reuters first broke the news about the FTC contacting Apple to verify whether its new smartwatch will not compromise Apple customer's data by keeping private all the data collected through the smartwatch and other devices.
Apple in response sent its representatives on several occasions to meet with the FTC to provide assurances that its devices or third party apps would not utilize customer's data without their consent or sell it to others.
Apple is quoted by Reuters as saying that they are mindful of customer's privacy and their HealthKit platform gives customers the ability to decide how to share their data.
The FTC's interest in the Apple Watch and other similar devices was outlined by Commissioner Julie Brill who earlier in the year stated that the commission was concerned about health data collected by wearable tech devices. While such data does not have a medical context it could be used by third party app developers and even sold to other individuals and companies if adequate controls are not in place.
Currently medical information that is gathered by hospitals and doctor's offices are all governed by the HIPAA privacy rules. However, data gathered by wearable tech devices such as smartwatches and health apps do not fall under the HIPAA privacy rules.
This is what spurred the FTC to check how such data is gathered, stored, and used and whether there are adequate safeguards in place to ensure that private health-related data are not misused.
