FTC asks Apple: Is patient data safe?

The Federal Trade Commission is worried about Apple’s smartwatch. According to a report from Reuters, the regulatory agency is seeking assurances from Apple that it will take appropriate steps to ensure smartwatch-collected health data doesn’t get taken or used without owners’ consent.

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In the past few months, representatives from Apple have met with the FTC to discuss data security, with Apple emphasizing it will not sell data to third-parties or allow third-party developers to sell data.

While the FTC declined to comment, and there are no current indications the FTC plans to launch a formal inquiry, the agency has previously expressed concern over “health data that flows outside of a medical context,” according to the report, most of which is not HIPAA-protected.

To address the matter, Apple may be considering hiring an in-house privacy czar, according to an anonymous source in the report. The company is also consulting with a number of health data privacy experts to safeguard its wearables and mobile technology in advance of its future projects in health and wellness, the sources said.

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