Apple Underscores Health Privacy In Humorous Ad ‘Exposing’ Personal Stuff
Video screenshot via Apple
An Apple a day keeps the non-doctors away, too. In a witty but enlightening spot, the Cupertino tech giant highlights a vulnerable part of user privacy protection that’s less commonly touched on: health data.
The advertisement, voiced by Jane Lynch, takes the viewer to a clinic’s waiting room, where patients’ private health troubles are placed on blast. It turns out that these victims have at some point over-shared their personal issues online, unaware of those who were lurking and listening a bit too closely.
It goes without saying that the only person unfazed and unaffected by the awkward data leak is an iPhone user using the dedicated Apple Health app.
The video emphasizes the Health app’s promise to safeguard users’ private health information from prying eyes. For further illustration, Apple has also published a whitepaper explaining how everything the company creates, including its Health features, prioritize “privacy by design.”
Long story short, the Health app is primarily designed to be so respectful of a person’s privacy that even Apple can’t read their health data. Measurements are generated, processed, and stored on-device, not in Apple’s servers, while data is end-to-end encrypted. This info is also only shared “with explicit user permission.”
Got a rash? Don’t worry, your secret is safe.
[via MacRumors and Fast Company, video and cover image via Apple]
