Singapore-Apple App Spotlights Asia’s Health-Privacy Tightrope
“Now Apple and Singapore are showing how this nexus of government and Big Tech could expand in the post-pandemic world – promoting health and convenience but also fueling debate over privacy.”
Come late October, Apple Watch wearers in Singapore will be eligible for up to 380 Singapore dollars ($270) in rewards over two years for pursuing a healthy lifestyle. The program centers on an app called LumiHealth, created through a partnership between Apple and the government. Users will be encouraged to complete fitness challenges by, say, walking, jogging, swimming or attending yoga class.
Though some may be reluctant to share information, residents who spoke with Nikkei Asia sounded positive.
“I think the government needs statistics,” said a 43-year-old Chinese man living in the city-state. “They don’t publish my data.”
Nevertheless, LumiHealth comes as governments across Asia increasingly turn to the world’s biggest tech companies to tackle health issues. The economy-crippling coronavirus has only accelerated this trend, worrying some experts.
Nicole Stephensen, a privacy expert and principal of Australia’s Ground Up Consulting, explained there is a risk of mission creep or “function creep” whenever technology involving personal information is “leveraged for the benefit of the community.”
She told Nikkei that a classic example would be the use of security cameras, initially intended to deter crime, to track and monitor the health of individuals by applying facial recognition and temperature measuring technologies to the feeds. “The stark reality of function creep when it comes to surveillance technologies of any kind — even the ones that are ostensibly in the public interest — is erosion of privacy rights.”
Yet technology offers obvious benefits, too, from helping to contain COVID-19 to limiting medical costs in aging Asian societies like Singapore. And as the pandemic drags on and governments juggle the challenges of fighting the virus and reviving their economies, more opportunities are there for the taking.