Galen Gruman, *InfoWorld*, 2 Dec 2011 Users are regularly signing up for Big Brother-like tech that could result in the loss of insurance coverage or worse http://www.infoworld.com/t/internet-privacy/carrier-iq-and-facebook-pose-the... selected text: But the worst risk is what people aren't talking about: Big Brother-type technology used to monitor specific individuals and shape their behavior through penalties and rewards. If the government were doing this, we'd have people in the streets, but in the hands of private companies, these seductive methods convince people to naively agree to being controlled. Take, for example, Progressive Insurance's program of offering tracking devices to monitor how you drive. If you drive safely, as determined by Progressive, you get an discount. If you're determined to be unsafe, you pay the "normal" rate. Given insurance companies' business model -- pay out as little as possible, take in as much as possible -- the long-term result is obvious: "Unsafe" drivers will pay more, or they won't be eligible for insurance. It's not just Progressive. There's been a lot of excitement in the health care industry over monitoring devices that can make sure people are taking their medication, eating right, and even exercising. If you do what you're supposed to, you may get a discount, such as on medical insurance, a measure now being considered for employer-sponsored plans. If you don't, you may get nagged, pay more, or be denied coverage. The Orwellian name for such control approaches is "wellness incentives." Here is what one poster had to say about the medical monitoring. That last paragraph is particularly nasty: unbound55: A very good article pointing out activities that are already occurring that will impact people's lives far more than they think. My company has been on the leading edge of the health care tracking that is mentioned in this article. Already offering incentives for providing additional health information, they are now offering incentives for providing detailed health information such as height, weight, cholesterol, etc. The plan has already been announced that in another year that information will be provided to some kind of CSR that will make sure that your numbers either improve, or that you are actively working on improving your numbers...or you lose access to the premium insurance. It is only a half-step further to lose access to all insurance altogether by participating in the program. Unfortunately, most people do not understand the very real problem being started here. They likely will not understand it until they get bit by it. All they see is the discounts being offered. As someone who spent 9 years trying to get doctors to understand that I actually was exercising very well and ate correctly culminating in the discovery of Conn's Syndrome (the actual root cause of my very high hypertension), I shudder to think how I would have to deal with that with some under-educated CSR who would simply report that I clearly was lying about something. ------------------------------