Privacy debate still key after Apple launches
Summary
Apple’s new software launches, unveiled yesterday at its Worldwide Developers Conference, have interesting implications for the ongoing debate around the use of personal data by brands. The notion of digitally connected products that measure our vital statistics or control our home appliances is tentatively seeping into the public consciousness thanks to products like Nike Fuelband and Nest thermostats, but Apple’s decision to create comprehensive platforms like HealthKit and HomeKit should accelerate awareness and increase uptake of this new technology. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said yesterday that HealthKit will act as “a single place” for pooling and holding the data from all other health applications available on the iPhone and iPad. Kenton Ward, co-founder of ticketing platform Bookitbee, told the newspaper: “After the Snowden affair, one in four people we speak to now asks whether their data is being held in the UK.” Tech giants like Apple must therefore tread carefully as they launch new services that aim to fundamentally change the way people live their lives. Google is set to hold its own developer conference later this month, but the race to be the market leader of ‘the internet of things’ should not distract from the importance of consumer privacy.
Classifications
AskAI Classifications
LabelsLinked Companies
