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Despite the growing concerns over privacy and the idea that technology is invading our personal lives, there is still ever-increasing support for medical alert devices that immediately update health providers with your medical stats. Recent polling has shown that about 79% of people favor health monitoring medical devices that immediately alert your physician to significant changes in your health.
Even in an era of growing security concerns, the benefits have outweighed the perceived costs in medical health monitoring technology.
This data comes from Unisys Security Index which polls consumers on subjects related to personal Internet security and related topics. The survey was conducted across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia for a total of 13 separate countries.
The overwhelming support for medical devices directly connected to medical professionals can be contrasted with the only 36 percent of people who support police being able to access your data from similar devices. These numbers reflect the average individual’s inherent trust in their doctors and/or medical alert service providers as compared to the lack of trust traditionally placed in security and government officials.
While over 75% of Americans support internet-based devices that provide benefits to personal security, like directly sending data to police in an emergency or medical devices that send alerts to doctors, most Americans are still against their data being monitored or tracked either without their knowledge or their consent. Only 36 percent of those polled globally supported the police being able to access their location from wearable devices at a time of the police’s choosing.
This results in a conversation that is both highly nuanced and whose ramifications will be felt for generations. According to Tom Patterson, the Chief Trust Officer at Unisys, “The results of the Unisys Security Index suggest that consumers around the world view the internet as scarier than earthquakes, terrorism, and wars, largely because they feel they have little control over how to address bad actors leveraging Internet-enabled technologies.”
Companies that provide web-connected devices, such as cellphones or medical alert watches, will have to continue to build their products in a way that can straddle the need to provide immediate access to emergency services while still maintaining acceptable levels of personal privacy. Consumers must be empowered to decide what is sent out, and when, for these products to succeed. Even a slight breach of trust can spell the end for many of the smaller companies.
The data shows why working with trustworthy companies is more important than ever.
The Unisys Security Index studies the concerns of consumers around the globe on topics dealing with national, personal, financial and Internet security.
Reference:
https://www.aiin.healthcare/topics/privacy-security/79-support-medical-devices-alert-physicians
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