Is Your Fitness Tracker & Other Devices Safe?

Identify theft, data leaks, discrimination from employers and increasing insurance costs are just some of the fallout predicted from the rise of wearable technology.
The use of trackers, smart watches, Internet-connected clothing, and other wearables becomes more widespread, and as their functionalities become even more sophisticated, the extent and nature of data collection will be unprecedented

These data can, in turn, be combined with personal information from other sources— including health-care providers and drug companies—raising such potential harms as discriminatory profiling, manipulative marketing, and data breaches.

According to the Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights in Washington DC records that there were 253 health-care breaches across the United States in 2015 that affected 500 individuals or more, resulting in a combined loss of over 112 million records.

‘The opportunities for data breaches will increase, with hackers accessing medical and health information at insurance companies, retail chains, and other businesses

 

Spa Trends

Healing and de-stressing techniques on display at this year’s International Spa Association expo, held Wednesday in New York. Products for home use were also a theme.

LOUNGE CHAIR: The comfy, curvy Soltec Lounge delivers soothing magnetic vibrations while you listen to a soundtrack of chants, drums and more. Lie back with headphones and an eye pillow and the world with all its troubles fades away.

—THE GRANDFATHERS: Native Americans called them the “grandfathers”: smooth dark stones gathered from Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. They’re used in hot stone massages at Aspira The Spa, including a reflexology foot massage where the stones are placed between the toes.

—SELF-HEATING MASK: A new product from Chaleur Beauty will soon be available for retail purchase for home use, but it’s also being marketed to the spa world. It’s a disposable self-heating facial mask, $8, designed for use with skin creams activated by the heat. You can use the mask for 10 to 40 minutes.

WARM SEASHELLS: Heated seashells are placed on your body as part of a skin moisture treatment from Kohler Waters Spa, which has locations in Kohler, Wisconsin; Burr Ridge, Illinois; and at the Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews, Scotland. Kohler specializes in water therapy, and the “All Things Scotland” experience, inspired by the North Sea, also includes a seaweed wrap, sea salt exfoliation and warm rinse under a custom shower.

Technogym equipment. The company’s elliptical-style Cross Personal trainer is sleek and stylish with a built-in screen console offering various digital and entertainment options. It’s designed by Antonio Citterio, an Italian designer whose resume includes work for Hermes. The company is sending 1,200 pieces of equipment to the Summer Olympic Games in Brazil. Technogym products are found in spas and gyms at places like the Four Seasons. Or if you have $11,000 to spare, you can buy a Cross Personal for home.

Wearables & Health

Digital Self Tracking Results Are In

Digital self-tracking promised to be a dynamic self-improvement revolution. Now, the results are in, and provide a different story. The uptake of self-tracking has been impressive. For example, 21% of US adults already owned a wearable device, while an online global study of 24,000 consumers in 24 countries found that 8% owned a wearable fitness monitor, 7% a smartwatch, and 6% a wearable health device. 40%, 41% and 39% respectively plan to buy one in the next five years (Accenture, January 2015). However, despite this, evidence shows that self-tracking alone is not an effective long-term motivator for most users. A third of US consumers who have owned an activity tracker stopped using it within six months.

Suggested Solution
Combine new technologies with a deep understanding of human behavior and resolve this tension with compelling rewards that help customers become the people they want to be. Since it is known that in materially affluent societies, where basic needs are easily met, human motivation quickly shifts away from what I have to who I am. The result is a never-ending quest for personal enhancement that can play out across countless axes: health, formal education, informal skills and knowledge, creativity, ethics, values and many more.The problem? Other, self-sabotaging impulses and faults that are just as much a part of human nature: lack of motivation, poor time management, loss of focus, and yes, plain old laziness.

In a survey of US consumers, 89% said taking personal responsibility for health is the best way to stay healthy. Meanwhile, 91% admitted to ‘snacking all day on candy, ice-cream and chips’.

The Librarian Workout Back In The Day