Keeping fit and data savvy

Insurance and health are synonymous with one another. Today, wearables are impacting the way insurance companies interact with their customers. Some offer discounts on your insurance premium if you provide your wearable data to your agent?

Wearable technology encompasses a range of smart devices that can be worn around a particular part of the body or attached to a device or clothing. Their primary role is to watch our physical and mental performance and give out the result in understandable stats.

As the brightest brains of modern insurance practices prepare to gather in Bahrain for next week’s InsurByte Conference 2019, FinTech writer Brad Smith looks at the necessity of securing data streams.

Technology is the basis of the development of economic sectors … and among the fastest advancing technology is InsurTech.

This technology promises to revolutionise the insurance industry and ensure consumers access this important service in an improved manner. But there are genuine concerns that it could be prone to cybercrime.

InsurTech firms mainly rely on the personal information of their clients to deliver their services. For instance, the data from a fitness application in a smartphone, or the wearable technology, will be used by the company to tailor services that are geared towards your needs.

Health wearables are an important technology as they help you keep track of important health aspects. More to that, they provide important data that will enable your insurer to create an insurance policy that fully meets your needs. However, wearable fitness devices may make you vulnerable to security threats.

In the past, they could only record your steps but modern devices have the capacity now to record intricate details … even your bowel movements!

The concern is that crucial data may fall into the wrong hands. With your data insecure, hackers may not only access your private information but could also change it.

Most devices and applications put fitness first instead of privacy. Fortunately, you can still use them and secure yourself using certain steps:

● Avoid using your real name in your profile

Using your name on your wearable profile means that the information recorded can be matched with other systems. Avoid using your real name and instead adopt an alias. More to that, turn off location and Bluetooth and use strong passwords.

● Review the data the app can access and share

The amount of data shared by fitness wearables is different. By understanding the amount of data that can be shared, you will be able to put restrictions on the amount of data that the app can access.

● Update the app

Applications will regularly request you to get an updated version. As much as these constant requests are annoying, they are important. Updates are mainly used to ensure that security flaws are managed. In addition, the updates may mean that there is a new version that is better and more secure. Always take a few minutes to update your app in a bid to enhance your security.

● Use apps that adopt HTTPS

Most apps do not use HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and this is a key reason as to why your personal data is insecure. Fitness apps require Wi-Fi to share data and in most cases, the data is shared on an insecure server. By using an app that relies on HTTPS, you are assured of enjoying security since your data will not fall on the wrong hands. In case your data does not rely on HTTPS, you should consider finding another app or wearable device.

Using HTTPS, the computers agree on a ‘code’ between them, and then they scramble the messages using it so that no one in between can read them. This keeps your information safe from hackers.

● Check the accuracy of your data

When personal data falls in the wrong hands, it may be used to create a wrong perception on your health. Changed data can have a huge negative effect on your fitness goals and create an insurance policy that does not befit you. For that reason, always keep tabs on your data. If you notice any inconsistency, it means someone is manipulating it and it is time to get a new wearable or fitness app.

Data is a key driver for InsurTech. However, it may also be the downfall of this promising technology. Therefore, it is important that fitness apps and wearables have the proper privacy features that will ensure user data cannot be used for malicious purposes.

l Editor’s note: Bahrain FinTech Bay will host InsurByte Conference 2019 at the Gulf Hotel Convention Centre next Wednesday and Thursday, under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain and in partnership with the Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF), the Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA) and FinTech Consortium. It aims to bring together local and global key regulators and policy advocates to find solutions and promote the best innovative InsurTech practices in a collaborative, open and transparent manner.