Apple launches global health data privacy campaign, including in India

New Delhi: Apple on Wednesday launched a new campaign to highlight the importance of health data privacy globally, including in India, as millions of people now monitor their health data online through a host of smart devices.

The campaign will be broadcast via broadcast, social media and billboards in 24 regions around the world this summer. In India, there will be billboards in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad.

It will include a new ad featuring the voice of Emmy Award-winning actress and comedian Jane Lynch, a white paper that provides an overview of the ways Apple helps protect data stored in the Health app on iPhone and HealthKit, and billboards in 24 regions around the world. .

To underscore the importance of health data privacy, a humorous ad tells the story of people whose health data is shared without their consent by a third party voiced by Lynch.

The ad is directed by award-winning Craig Gillespie, who directed “I, Tonya” and “Cruella,” among other films. The company also published a white paper on the privacy of health data.

The tech giant believes in four privacy principles: data minimization, on-device processing, transparency and control, and security, and has integrated each of these four pillars into its Health functions from the start.

iOS minimizes the amount of health data sent to Apple’s servers by generating on-device health metrics. For users with two-factor authentication, a device passcode, and a device running iOS 12 or later, data in the Health app is end-to-end encrypted. As a result, no one can read the data in the Health app, not even Apple.

Data displayed in the Health app, such as Trends & Highlights, resting heart rate, and Cycle Tracking predictions, is calculated on the device. This on-device storage and computing helps ensure that Apple doesn’t see this data to provide health metrics and summaries.

Health data is sensitive, so Apple makes sure you are in control of what data is shared, who it is shared with, and how it is used.

Apps can request access to different types of data through HealthKit and the user can decide what data they want to share, if any.

Health and fitness data collected from iPhone and Apple Watch is encrypted on the device with a passcode and securely synced from Apple Watch to iPhone. As a result, no one with physical access to your device can read the data in the Health app unless they have your passcode.

In August 2022, more than 95% of active iCloud users had two-factor authentication enabled.