We’re in a precarious position right now. We’re moving faster and faster forward with our technologies. We’re dreaming up new ways to track our movements, our health, vehicles, and weapons. Our leaders in congress and the senate don’t want to have honest conversations about these technologies. Our weapons are being used for some pretty unethical things in Israel no matter how you look at things. We don’t know how our data is being used by or by whom.
We’re developing technologies that will significantly modify our work places, that will adjust how we interact with each other, understanding and discussing what the impact of these changes is vitally important. Let’s say you’re a big fan of applications and devices like FitBit and similar products, you use them everyday, how will your health insurance company use that data? What happens if it shows that you’re a lazy bum and that you’re not doing anything to keep yourself healthy. What if it shows that you’ve recently stopped doing physical actitivies and that you’re actively being unhealthy. Could your rates go up, could your Care manager suddenly contact your doctor’s office and getting you on a forced care plan through your doctor. These types of things could happen. Now what happens if your insurance company sees where you’re going to McDonald’s all the time because of your car or your smart phone. This could easily happen through Apps. Skype and Facebook both require you to share GPS locations, why not an app from your Insurance company?

Are these applications of technology ethical, I don’t think so. But they will help people make money and save money. Now, is that a reason that we should accept these ethical lapses? I don’t think so. I think we need to have more serious ethical conversations.