Every time you swipe a card to buy something, somebody is using it to draw conclusions about you, says Kaiser Health News.
And fitness trackers, fridges, thermostats, pillows, security systems, cigarettes and even saltshakers come with the ability to connect to the internet and could funnel sensitive information about your daily habits to advertisers and others.
A report by Robert Gellman, a privacy consultant, and Pam Dixon, a privacy advocate and the executive director of the World Privacy Forum, details the way billions of data points are collected on everyone, analyzed and used to tabulate a variety of “consumer scores” — which assess your spending and give a backdoor glimpse at your health and hobbies.
There are many kinds of health scores that can be calculated: Health risk scores, frailty scores, brand-name medicine propensity scores are all available.
Anybody, including college admissions officers, health insurers and potential employers, can buy these scores and use them in decision-making.
For example, a score suggesting chronic illness may disqualify a consumer from being offered a low-interest loan, a status credit card or a job, says KHN. While your potential employer can’t outright ask you if you have a chronic illness, the company may be able to crunch these numbers and find out.
Greg Horne, a health care analytics principal in the Health and Life Sciences Global Practice at SAS, an analytics firm, says his clients, which include health insurers, use health risk scores merely to get to know their customers better.
There are many kinds of health scores that can be calculated: Health risk scores, frailty scores, brand-name medicine propensity scores are all available.
Anybody, including college admissions officers, health insurers and potential employers, can buy these scores and use them in decision-making.
For example, a score suggesting chronic illness may disqualify a consumer from being offered a low-interest loan, a status credit card or a job, says KHN. While your potential employer can’t outright ask you if you have a chronic illness, the company may be able to crunch these numbers and find out.
Greg Horne, a health care analytics principal in the Health and Life Sciences Global Practice at SAS, an analytics firm, says his clients, which include health insurers, use health risk scores merely to get to know their customers better.
“It’s about assessing and growing and making sure your system is able to cover the liabilities that it’s set for itself in terms of health care provision,” Horne says.
But if you’re concerned about what your consumer score may say about you, you can “take charge” of your information, says Dixon.
“The data is already out there; you need to understand how you can manipulate your profile.”
She suggests using cash for “shady” purchases like alcohol or cigarettes — anything that may reflect poorly on you. Put gym memberships and vegetables on your card.
She also recommends using third-party apps that mask or blur spending habits, such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Instead of putting everything on a card that could reveal unhealthy patterns, Dixon says, use these other payers to break up habits, putting one extra entity between you and your purchases.
And leverage social media to your advantage.
“If you are a gym member or a fitness person, you want it to be known to the world at large,” Dixon says.
She suggests using cash for “shady” purchases like alcohol or cigarettes — anything that may reflect poorly on you. Put gym memberships and vegetables on your card.
She also recommends using third-party apps that mask or blur spending habits, such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Instead of putting everything on a card that could reveal unhealthy patterns, Dixon says, use these other payers to break up habits, putting one extra entity between you and your purchases.
And leverage social media to your advantage.
“If you are a gym member or a fitness person, you want it to be known to the world at large,” Dixon says.
For more on the personal information being collected on us, here is a 60 Minutes segment from 2014.
Comments