The Apple Watch is taken under scrutiny ahead of launch

Sep 16, 2014 09:31 GMT  ·  By

The Apple Watch just launched last week, and even if it won’t be made available for purchase just yet (it’s coming in 2015), the device is already raising a lot of eyebrows (aka questions) security-wise.

The Watch’s real-life appearance comes in the wake of the hacked celebrity photos form the iCloud scandal, so it’s no wonder people are asking a lot of questions.

Will the Apple Watch be able to keep safe your private info?

Notably, Connecticut Attorney General George Jespen has published a letter on the State of Connecticut governmental website asking a bunch of plausible questions.

He also requests a meeting with Apple representatives to discuss how information on the Apple Watch will be kept safe from curious eyes.

In the letter, Jaspen highlights several areas of concern. For starters, he wants to know where the information collected by the wearable will be stored. Will it reside on the Apple Watch itself or will it go on its servers? If the latter scenario is the case, how will the information be kept private?

Furthermore, Apple needs a strategy to review application privacy policies so that users’ health information is protected. Jaspen wants to find out how the Cupertino tech giant plans to do that.

The health-centric aspects of the watch are taken up for further scrutiny in what follows. What are the actions that Apple intends to take against apps that claim they can offer diagnostic and treatment information remotely?

Since most of the info on the Apple Watch will be collected from users, the tech giant needs to figure out a way to be given consent to use this personal data.

Last but not least, it’s extremely important that Apple develops a way to monitor and enforce applications’ compliance regarding these rules.

Attorney General Jepsen concludes his plea by stating that “when new technologies emerge in consumer markets they inevitably lead to new questions, including questions about privacy.”

“I have found that asking these questions and engaging in a proactive dialogue about privacy concerns before a product comes to the market is an effective and mutually beneficial way to ensure that consumer privacy is protected.”

Some of Japsen's questions have already been answered

However, on a closer look, we find that some of Japsen’s questions have already been answered by Apple’s Review Guidelines for developers of the HealthKit APIs.

In the document, Apple states that the health-related info collected from users won’t be stored in the iCloud and apps attempting to take advantage of this method of storage won’t be granted the green light.

Furthermore, it says that apps will be unable to share private info with third-parties without the user’s consent. Last but not least, apps that claim to be able to diagnose or offer treatment solutions will be not taken into consideration.