Apple as your Healthcare Provider?

16

October

2019

No ratings yet.

“Apple Is Going After The Healthcare Industry, Starting With Personal Health Data”, states an recently posted article of CBInsights (2019). Over the last few years, Apple have been developing several applications and devices for users to track and monitor their own health (Apple 2019). Apple products and apps, such as Apple Health Record and Apple Watch, collect a significant amount of intimate health data. Originally, Apple’s Health app only kept track of users’ weight, exercise routines and step taken per day, but recently the app has started to store health records (Sydell 2019). Apple does not only focus on personal data tracking. According to the company, iOS devices and Apps have been implemented in several hospitals (Apple 2019). Additionally, more than 200 health care providers use the Health app to record health statistics of their patients (Sydell 2019).

 

What The Health (Data)?

The use of health and fitness applications to monitor your own health as increased over the last few years. An increasing number of people are using application, such as Flo Health, to track their current state of healthiness. However, a study conducted by The Wall Street Journal states that several top health and fitness applications, which are also available in the App Store, have been sharing personal information with Facebook (Schechner and Secada 2019). According to Schechner and Secada (2019), Apple does not require apps to reveal all partners data is shared with, which made it possible for app developers to share their data with Facebook. Subsequently, Facebook will use this data to generate revenue through personal advertising. Apple has stated that these third-party apps are not able to gain the data of health records (Sydell 2019). Moreover, the company promises that, in case of violation of its rules, it will warn developers to adjust the application or otherwise it will be deleted from the App Store. Nevertheless, this intimate health data cannot simply be ‘taken back’, once it is shared, which puts people’s privacy at risk. Although Apple has a good reputation regarding ‘selling data’ compared to other companies like Google or Facebook, the company recently suspended their virtual assistant Siri’s response grading due to privacy concerns (Panzarino 2019). These concerns were first expressed in an article posted by The Guardian, in which it claims that Apple contractors could hear “confidential details on Siri recordings” (Hern 2019).

In conclusion, Apple entering the healthcare system could be beneficial for the industry due to Apple’s innovative history and their great emphasis on customer needs. Nonetheless, (privacy) concerns around the sharing of intimate health information need to be evaluated and addressed. If Apple truly wants a future as a trustworthy healthcare tech provider, it must convince the public of its intentions.

What do you think: are big tech companies like Apple beneficial for the healthcare industry?

References:

Apple Inc. (2019) ‘Healthcare’. Accessed on 15 October 2019 on https://www.apple.com/healthcare/

CBInsights. (2019) ‘Apple Is Going After The Healthcare Industry, Starting With Personal Health Data’. Accessed on 16 October 2019 on https://www.cbinsights.com/research/apple-healthcare-strategy-apps/#health

Hern, A. (2019) ‘Apple contractors ‘regularly hear confidential details’ on Siri recordings’. Accessed on 16 October 2019 on https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/26/apple-contractors-regularly-hear-confidential-details-on-siri-recordings

Panzarino, M. (2019) ‘Apple suspends Siri response grading in response to privacy concerns’. Accessed on 16 October 2019 on https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/01/apple-suspends-siri-response-grading-in-response-to-privacy-concerns/

Schechner, S. and Secada, M. (2019) ‘You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook.’ Accessed on 16 October 2019 on https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-give-apps-sensitive-personal-information-then-they-tell-facebook-11550851636

Sydell, L. (2019) ‘ Storing Health Records on Your Phone: Can Apple Live Up To Its Privacy Values?’. Accessed on 15 October 2019 on https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/697026827/storing-health-records-on-your-phone-can-apple-live-up-to-its-privacy-values?t=1571255459363

 

 

Please rate this

The future of jobs: automation anxiety

7

October

2019

No ratings yet.

Ninety percent of jobs previously occupied by humans have been substituted by robots (Quora, 2018). A report by the PwC argued that 30 per cent of the professions in the UK could be abolished by 2030 as a result of automation (PwC, 2016). Additionally, McKinsey Global Institute (2017) implied that over 800 million jobs worldwide will be lost due to similar reasons. This might lead to increasing unemployment rates in industries that seem to be ‘more automatable’, which refers to occupations that are “on some level routine, repetitive and predictable” (Martin Ford, 2017, as cited in Mahdawi, 2017) or require lower levels of education (McKinsey Global Institute, 2017) . For example, professions such as telemarketer, loan officer, cashier and legal assistant will possibly be at a higher risk of ‘technological unemployment’ (Mahdawi, 2017). Technological unemployment is defined as “unemployment due to technical progress. This applies to particular types of workers whose skill is made redundant because of changes in methods of production, usually by substituting machines for their services” by The Oxford Dictionary of Economics (2018). According to Pew Research Center (2017), seventy-two per cent of Americans is concerned about an automated future, in which “computers are capable of performing many human jobs” (Solon, 2017).

How new is ‘automation anxiety’
Automation anxiety has often emerged throughout history. For example, the Luddite movement of the early 19th century, in which English textile workers destroyed textile machines as a sign of protest against automation (Autor, 2015). Likewise, president John Kennedy ranked automation as the major domestic challenge of the 1960’s (JFK Library, n.d.). This illustrates that concern around automation is not an unknown occurrence. However, in contrast with the automation processes of the 20th century, which mostly affect factory workers, the modern-day computerization is also threatening managerial functions. For instance, an article from the Guardian stated that Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, has plans to automate the daily management of the firm, which includes hiring, firing and strategic decision-making (Solon, 2016).

Job change rather than job loss
The government has several options to address technological unemployment and automation anxiety. According to McKinsey Global Institute (2017), automation does not lead to job loss, it rather leads to the change of tasks within jobs. These new tasks may require a certain skill set, which employees might not currently possess. Considering this, the first option of the government is to finance lifetime learning. This means that people who are at risk of losing, or have lost their jobs due to automation, will get education and training funded by the government in order to obtain the required skill sets. An example of this training is the General Assembly, which is a company that provides training in coding, one of the skills that these new tasks will possibly require (The Economist, 2017). Another example to illustrate the importance of lifetime learning is the fact that even LinkedIn Corporation, a professional- networking platform, has decided to implement a training system by buying the online training business, Lynda, in 2015 and converting it into LinkedIn Learning (The Economist, 2017).

Possible temporary solution
Considering the fact that the primary reason of the concerns around automation is job insecurity (Sherman, 2018), a second, more temporarily solution is the implementation of wage insurance. This entails the compensation of wage that is lost when an employee is discharged or is obliged to obtain a new job with lower salary due to automation. The wage insurance could function as temporarily income while the employee, for example, is receiving subsidized education to be able to apply for better jobs. In essence, this insurance will only apply to people that are actively participating in the aforementioned educational events. This could motivate the labor force to participate in these events.

How to survive automation anxienty
In conclusion, automation is perceived as a threat by the majority of the labor force due to the possible effects on their job security. Taking into consideration the fast-changing, modern-day environment of the job market, the necessity of lifetime learning has increased. The modern-day labor force is expected to ‘keep up’ with the rapidity of technological developments. In addition, the implementation of wage insurance could motivate employees to participate in events that will enhance their skills. Therefore, governments are expected to protect the labor force against the possible consequences of automation by financing lifetime learning and implementing wage insurance.

What do you think: will ‘robots steal our jobs’ or will automation help us achieve greater successes?

References

Anderson, M. (2017, October 4). 6 key findings on how Americans see the rise of automation. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/04/6-key-findings-on-how-
americans-see-the-rise-of-automation/

Autor, D. H. (2015). Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29(3), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.29.3.3
Black, John, et al. A Dictionary of Economics. Oxford University Press, 2017.

JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. (n.d.). NEWS CONFERENCE

24, FEBRUARY 14, 1962. Retrieved November 30, 2018, from https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-press-conferences/news-
conference-24

“Lifelong Learning Is Becoming an Economic Imperative.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 12 Jan. 2017, www.economist.com/special-report/2017/01/12/lifelong-learning-is-becoming-an- economic-imperative.
Manyika, J., Lund, S., Chui, M., Bughin, J., Woetzel, J., Batra, P., Sanghvi, S. (2017, November). Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-
future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages

McKinsey Global Institute. (2017). Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce Transitions in a Time of Automation. Retrieved November 30, 2018, from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/future%20of%20organizations/wha

t%20the%20future%20of%20work%20will%20mean%20for%20jobs%20skills%20and%20wages/mgi-

jobs-lost-jobs-gained-report-december-6-2017.ashx

Scott, P. (2017, September 27). These are the jobs most at risk of automation according to Oxford University: Is yours one of them? Retrieved November 30, 2018, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/27/jobs-risk-automation-according-oxford-university-one/
Sherman, E. (2018, March 20). New Study: Automation Makes Workers So Anxious that They Get Sick. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/workers-are-allergic-to-
robots-ai-says-new-research.html

Vincent, J. (2017, November 30). Automation threatens 800 million jobs, but technology could still save us, says report. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/30/16719092/automation-robots-jobs-global-800-million-forecast
Winick, E. (2018, January 25). Every study we could find on what automation will do to jobs, in one chart. Retrieved November 30, 2018, from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610005/every-study-
we-could-find-on-what-automation-will-do-to-jobs-in-one-chart/

Quora. “Technology Has Already Taken Over 90% Of The Jobs Humans Used To Do.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Jan. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/01/18/technology-has-already-
taken-over-90-of-the-jobs-humans-used-to-do/#409fbc0b1bdd.

“Universal Wage Insurance and Lifetime Retraining Good Ideas Whose Time Has Come.” Milken Institute Review, www.milkenreview.org/articles/universal-wage-insurance-and-lifetime-retraining- good-ideas-whose-time-has-come.

Please rate this