Most UK consumers trust their GP to keep healthcare data private, but they wouldn’t want IoT data to be shared or stored with other third parties, according to KMPG.
The consultancy polled 1000 UK adults and found that almost three-quarters (74%) would be happy to have data from health monitoring wearables such as fitness bands report back to their GP.
Nearly half (48%) claimed they were fine with their medical records being added into a single NHS database.
But only 7% said they’d be happy for IoT health-related information to be shared with their employer. This is despite the fact that increasing numbers of employers are encouraging employees to wear such devices due to insurance reasons.
The study found a skepticism about private enterprise in general, with only 8% saying they’d be happy for a private firm to process their health data. And 60% said they wouldn’t want data from connected devices like fridges, smartphones or smart watches to be shared or stored.
KPMG privacy practice leader, Mark Thompson, argued that innovations in IoT and ‘smart’ devices are leading to new types of personal information being processed – and that the tech giants behind these innovations need to be more proactive in creating consumer trust.
“It is essential that wearable technology and IoT companies understand where is an individual’s ‘creepy line’, meaning the level of personal information that individuals feel comfortable to be processed,” he told Infosecurity.
“These companies must take appropriate steps to enable the individual to not only understand the technologies processing their personal information but also give them flexibility and control over processing activities, so that it remains within their comfort zone.”
Tech providers who understand this can then try to shift this ‘creepy line’ with the promise of improved service quality and other benefits “as a trade-off for allowing increased processing of personal information,” Thompson added.