Sporadically I guess that technology has gone too far.
- There’s easily no such thing as solitude or privacy any more these afternoons, because you are always linked to most people you know…
And periodically people you don’t know. If you’re anything like me, you’re definitely getting a bit uncomfortable with the idea that various companies are monitoring your moment by moment activities. Thanks to our smartphones, smart cars, and even our smart control units, giant companies can keep tabs on their buyers like never before. This easily started to bother me the other day when I realized my smartphone is talking to my smart control unit respectfully. The smart control unit app is uploading information directly to my insurance business. My insurance company utilizes the air quality information to determine my yearly premiums, based on my assumed respiratory health, activity levels, and immune system strength. Why on earth does the insurance company use my Heating and A/C information? Apparently, your central heating and cooling system health can be correlated to your physical health. If your smart control unit is indicating that you’re always at home, using advanced indoor air temperature control, It signifies that you lead a sedentary lifestyle. If your smart control unit has not detected an air filter change or HVAC duct cleaning in various years, they guess you are at increased risk of respiratory disease. Lastly, if you are always changing the indoor air temperature control settings or modifying the air quality in ways that don’t agree with Heating and A/C algorithms, my insurance company considers it an indicator of underlying health problems, and unfortunately, I didn’t know any of my Heating and A/C activity would matter when I agreed to their health monitoring system. When I tried to explain that my two year old easily likes to mess with the shiny smart control unit, my insurance company wasn’t interested in reverting my premiums.
