Patient privacy be damned.

It’s pretty straightforward, actually. Patient-protection laws lower Big Tech’s ability to make their billions. Silicon Valley executives openly denigrate consumer-safety regulations as “friction”.

And now they’re bullying DC lawmakers into letting them do whatever they want with your most personal health data.

How do you know this is really about the data, and not the uber-spin of “patient freedom” and the false promises of “anonymized data” they’re peddling?

Five reasons:

PricewaterhouseCoopers just revealed that consumer willingness to use Silicon Valley’s avalanche of new “digital health” products — is stalling due to privacy and security concerns.
And in a separate study, Kantar researchers say more than half of U.S. consumers point to privacy and security concerns as the reason they don’t use “digital health” products like wearables and telemedicine.
The American Medical Association — in an unprecedented public comment — this week said “most digital health” products are “unusable”. (The AMA and several other medical associations first sounded the alarm about Big Tech’s deadly appetite back in September.)
The medical community is voicing grave concern about the government’s five-year Healthcare IT Strategic Plan. Some are calling for Congressional oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
The healthcare industry loudly joined the medical community in saying patient privacy and data security are their top concerns in evaluating any new technology

And how do you know the promises of “anonymized data” are false?

You’re very easy to track down, even when your data has been “anonymized”

Big Tech is lying.

So they can get their hands on your most personal health data with no strings attached.

You okay with that?

TODAY IN…

DEEP TECH:

Digital identity will be a huge topic in 2020. Here’s an excellent table-setter.
Cyber “incidents” are now the #1 concern in the annual Allianz Risk Barometer, while climate change takes its highest position ever… Meanwhile: World Economic Forum says the world’s top long-term risks are environmental
The creators of this new construction substance are calling it a “Frankenstein material”

MEDIA & TELECOM:

And with that, America has its streaming Coke and Pepsi. In a shockingly missed opportunity, Comcast has locked in the #2 market slot for Netflix. Behind Disney+.
More than 600 million users installed Android 'fleeceware' apps from the Google Play Store… See also: These subject lines are the most clicked for phishing

FINANCE:

The $1 trillion market cap club is Saudi Aramco, Apple, Microsoft and Google… in that order. For the record, Apple was first, back in August 2018, and Amazon briefly followed (but has since receded).
Hey Financial Times, we see what you did here… 😳 😅

Also at this week’s JPM Healthcare investor conference: Ernst & Young — very politely — said the healthcare industry is doing m&a wrong

PUBLIC POLICY:

More companies are accusing Big Tech of anti-competitive practices. PopSockets, Tile and Basecamp and others are set to testify alongside Sonos at an antitrust hearing today, saying Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple routinely threaten their businesses
A bipartisan group of Senators want to spend $1 billion to loosen China’s grip on 5G. The money would come from the FCC’s auctions of wireless-spectrum licenses, as well as a “Multilateral Telecommunications Security Fund”... See also: The Trump Administration nears a new rule to block shipments of U.S. products to Huawei

And finally… It’s dinner time: Do you know what’s in your burger?

Today in...

Big Tech now bullying lawmakers to get your…