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WearablIn a first known case, a woman is using data from her fitness tracker in a personal injury claim. Lawyers say the same data could be used against clients too.
Via Jeffrey Lapin
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Rescooped by David Slepkow from Nebraska and National Legal and Other News |
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Via Jeffrey Lapin
David Slepkow's insight:
“Till now we’ve always had to rely on clinical interpretation,” Muller says from his office in Calgary. “Now we’re looking at longer periods of time though the course of a day, and we have hard data.” His plaintiff will share her Fitbit data with Vivametrica for several months as part of an assessment period.
“We’re expecting the results to show that her activity level is less and compromised as a result of her injury.”
What’s intriguing (and a little creepy) is that cases like Muller’s could open the door to wearable device data being used not just in personal injury claims but in prosecutions. “Insurers will want it as much as plaintiffs will,” says Muller, for assessing sketchy claims.
Insurers wouldn’t be able to force claimants to wear Fitbits as part of an “assessment period,” like Muller’s client, but they could request a formal court order from whoever holds the data to release it to them, says Dr. Rick Hu, co-founder and CEO of Vivametrica. “We would not release the information,” he adds. Insurers could instead request it from a law firm or even from Fitbit directly.
“It’s always evolving with technology,” says Muller. “A number of years ago we saw courts requisition Facebook [for] information. If you’ve been wearing the Fitbit monitors it’s likely you’ll see court applications to compel disclosure of that data.”
Data from wearables is poised to become even more insightful for courts as their sensors become ever more sophisticated: tracking not only steps, but continuous heart beat and temperature data.
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Interesting use of wearable technology to help establish the nature and extent of a person's injuries. In this particular case, the injured person will wear a Fitbit to track their activity in hopes that it will show that her activity is lower than someone of her same age and profession.
While this is a good way to help show the effects of a personal injury, the potential is that for the data to be exploited by prosecutors and insurance companies.
As stated by Matthew Pearn, "Wearable devices could become a 'black box' for the human body. This may have some re-think their use of wearable devices as well as the laws governing the release and usage of data from them.
Story by Parmy Olson via Forbes