You’ve probably seen the ads. Some famous person is shown with their calendar age and their “real age.” If you visit the website and fill out their survey they’ll tell you your “real age.” Cool huh? Are you living healthy or rushing toward the end of life? You think this is something everyone would want to know.
That everyone who would want to know includes drug companies. The RealAge people are selling the collected data to drug companies. This NY Times report gives the details about how 27 million survey takers and 9 million members of RealAge have had their information provided to drug companies who then use the information to market products.
While few people would fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health and hand it over to a drug company looking for suggestions for new medications, that is essentially what RealAge is doing.
Who needs to keep their medical information private anyway?
This would be slimy enough if RealAge had been honest with the people visiting their website. But they weren’t. Well, actually they were in a fine print, quiet fast paced voice at the end of the commercial kind of way. In its multi-thousand word privacy policy it does say “we will share your personal data with third parties to fulfill the services that you have asked us to provide to you.” Though I doubt many people asked RealAge “please send my personal information to drug companies and have them target me for their drugs.” Recognized security expert Bruce Schneier reviews why the RealAge practice, among others, prevent consumers from making informed decisions.
Of course, companies don’t want people to make informed decisions about where to leave their personal data. RealAge wouldn’t get 27 million members if its webpage clearly stated “This information will be sold to pharmaceutical companies,”
Could be worse.
They could be selling the data to health insurance companies.
I’m done with all that. Not buying health insurance, even if I could ever find a company who’d take me. Nope, no way. I think I’ll just live until I get sick and then I’ll let someone else pick up the tab.
Seriously, those of us who can’t get health insurance or afford drugs are already taking this approach whether we want to or not. So if my info gets sold to one company or another it doesn’t really make much difference anyhow, not in this broken-down system.
No worries here.
..::snicker::..