Amazon launches Halo: tracks activity, body fat, emotions
press.aboutamazon.com
press.aboutamazon.com
There is no privacy in home, and that's exactly what you want, to track our every tap, thought and utterance when using Alexa or any of your spyware.
> Health data is encrypted in transit and in the cloud
I feel PR pieces like this have given up even trying, and they only add that entire section reluctantly. I'd respect technologists more if they just openly admitted that this data is tracked, collected, processed and used for ads or other metrics and possibly collected by law enforcement or other purposes.
I mean, there was huge backlash against Ring cameras for working with the police, so absolutely nobody can trust anything that even remotely connects to the internet.
What they should say:
Truly private and encrypted: All data is stored locally, on device, and will never be transmitted via the internet. Using a free, open source application, you can transfer all the data to your own, secure offline storage. No data will be transmitted to Amazon, the cloud, or any other third party. Not even us can access your data.
But, as we know, that is never going to happen as far as Amazon is concerned, they want to track every second of your life in billions of datapoints; how often you blink, how many steps you take, your every interaction within the world.
They won't be happy until as much of our lives is being recorded by them as possible.
Fuck Amazon.
I don't mean to be rude; I just don't think that "simply not use" is going to work.
Narf!
"Once you’ve opted-in by creating your voice profile, Tone will run passively and intermittently in the background so you don’t have to think about it. Throughout the day, it will take short samples of your speech and analyze the acoustic characteristics that represent how you sound to the people you interact with. This gives you a simple way to reflect on your interaction and communication throughout the day."
Aka "Look, Amazon found a reason it needs to record your voice all the time. For science."
Facebook must be fuming.
BTW, pretty sure Facebook and Google are already listening to speech and serving ads off it, just not admitting to it.
And that of others who happen to be around, presumably.
Also how is this ompatibe with laws where both parties must consent to a recording being made. Perhaps Amazon would argue this isn't actually a recording because... reasons.
This gave me a good laugh.
> This gives you a simple way to reflect on your interaction and communication throughout the day.
This sounds like a great way to cause social anxiety. It's also a very poor excuse for data harvesting. People are going to love it, this thing is going to sell like crazy.
Isn't trying to overthink every communication you had throughout the day going to be unhealthy rather than being helpful? People who are people pleasers are on the risk of being addicted to this thing.
In real-time, while you're currently interacting with someone, it can offer a helpful "WARNING! YOU SEEM ANXIOUS. CALM YOURSELF. OTHERS MAY CURRENTLY BE PERCEIVING YOU AS ANXIOUS."
Problem solved. Thanks, technology!
Unless the microphone is extremely directional, this means that the device will also take short samples of what everyone around you is saying. I assume Amazon's lawyers have passed on this, but it sounds sketchy to me especially since Amazon doesn't mention it.
The question is, how much is Amazon paying me for my data? Oh, nothing? Yeah, nope.
I feel sad. Let Amazon make it all better(orders gin).
Frankly, I am horrified and I only began to process this information.
Might we interest you in augmenting your information-processing capacity with one of our many EC2 instance types? There's one for every workload!
Reminds me of Radiohead's "fitter, happier, more productive self".
~Mindset tracking is pretty sensitive data, and to pay for the privilege to give something so personal away feels less than optimal. I would feel better about it I guess if there were a guarantee that no one would ever receive my data, ever, after Amazon, but even then...
I think traditional home/gym scales use electrical impedance to measure this like this Inbody one. [2] They also claim to have been validated by studies. I would rather want these devices to become more portable and affordable.
[1] https://blog.aboutamazon.com/devices/a-better-measure-of-hea...
In my personal experience I have found impedance ones to be fairly accurate(~10%, BF range 10-16) and for most people the accuracy of full body ones is good to have a general idea about their body. Probably when you reach sub 10 levels, accuracy matters more.
Btw, here is the link to studies they give: https://inbodyusa.com/studies/
DXA is definitely less convenient, but there's no real reason to test your bf% daily (just like weighing yourself daily isn't productive, you need to look at average changes over time). Considering the amount of time it takes to significantly change your bf%, twice a year testing would be plenty.. and would probably cost you the same amount as this subscription service.
However, for relative changes over time when consistently measured, impedance works just fine (trending upward or downward).
I'm very skeptical of their claim that the photo measurements are more accurate than other means, but perhaps they've done massive validation of their methods and have achieved adequate reliability and validity.
Agreed, but for change over time it's just as accurate as skin calipers... which don't require an investment or subscription service.
In my view, impedance evens out with calipers because of the convenience of impedance measurements over time. I just stand on the scale for a few seconds every morning, and I have stats synced that give me a good enough idea of my status (bonus for the added understanding of my hydration which calipers won't do). There's no cost or subscription for my scale aside from initial purchase (Withings aka Nokia Body Cardio), and it is regularly available for as low as $99 on sale. So after a couple years and hundreds of measurements the cost is negligible given the benefit.
If I had someone regularly accessible to do caliper measurements, I would have it done to compare regularly but still continue with impedance because it's so convenient to do and track.
I only mentioned calipers because they'd at least show you trends, which is where impedance seems to fail. Impedance is simply a poor way to measure bf%. Hydration might be a different story though.
I'd recommend you do yourself a favor and just spend the $100 annually to see where you're at.
Regardless, I use it for all the variables tracked. I look at body fat percentage but body weight is ultimately the value of concern. I don't agree $99 a year is a good value just for bf%, because I do agree that visual impression means more than a specific number.
The subscription cost for Amazon's service may be a great value (privacy concerns aside) if their photo algorithm is within a couple points of DXA or hydrostatic.
If it's accurate enough, I definitely agree. I'm looking forward to testing it out once it's available; since I'm one of those data nerds with actual ongoing DXA results, I'll be able to compare the two accurately. Although, pessimistically, I think if they had proven results within a few points they'd be a lot more quantitative in their marketing rather than the ambiguous language in the posts referenced above.
It is surely inaccurate, but directionally accurate. I only check weight and waist each day. Neck circumference changes slowly.
This uses imperial measures and is for men. You need to set the apple health data to imperial for weight and waist.
For women, you also need hip measures, and the calculations would differ a bit. If you’re interested in building this reach out and I can help modify this one.
Shortcut runs fast, and the two measures are quite quick to do daily.
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/fb69f71fc1c54cb09191b3610cf...
The hard part will be accurately extracting the anthropometric features from the front/side/back images that Halo captures. There's a chance they would initially launch an iPhone only app and leverage the face scanning depth sensor.
On the other side, how these giant companies will handle our data, and how this data will be used by, for example, health insurance companies, is the sinister aspect of any innovation in this direction.
It's a good example of "free market" trending to dystopian societies with huge disparities, whereas a good, simple, targeted government intervention (in terms of regulation, etc) could go a long way.
The downside in not-capitalism: You're forced to wear it. It doesn't work. Your family is brought in for questioning when you try to take it off.
What benefit does Amazon derive from having such comprehensive biometric data about Amazon consumers? They're offering this device at a significant loss vs. the investment that goes into it.
> The innovative Tone feature uses machine learning to analyze energy and positivity in a customer’s voice
Will they start charging people more for a product category when Alexa overhears that they're talking about it excitedly? Will they 'invite' you to install a Nielsen ratings integration that lets them listen for content and measure how you feel about it? If your pulse rate jumps during a Clorox bleach ad, will you start seeing ads for the Amazon Basics product that competes with it?
> Body scan images are automatically deleted from the cloud after processing, so only the customer sees them.
> Speech samples are always analyzed locally on the customer’s phone and automatically deleted after processing
"Processing" permits them to train models and transmit training outcomes that are derived your body data, as they only commit to deleting the raw data, not the training outcomes that result from it. They can claim correctly that the raw data cannot be extracted from the processed results.
But in a dream world, I would love a device that could help me map out my emotional state over time. My emotional health is a huge component to my well being. I currently manually keep an offline journal of my mood daily and use it to better understand myself, offloading that to a passive monitor would be great.
If I were to use this, I would use an older phone that would:
1. Only download the app necessary for using this device
2. Only provide Bluetooth connectivity. I would not use a SIM or connect to any wifi networks
Knowing physical strain, recovery levels, etc. helps you know when to train harder, when to take a day off, when to specifically rest up.
For somebody aiming for elite performance (physically and mentally), the data is invaluable.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/05/whoop-3-platform-review....
And I am saying this having now been in several's people houses with Alexa running lights. Not young people, or tech enthusiasts either. Old people who should know better.
Does it matter if the V1 is totally accurate or not? Safe to assume it will get better over time. The point still stands.
Gadgetbridge looks better in terms of privacy, but for some reason I'd chosen Notify and Fitness for my mi band 4 and some xiaomi body scales. Probably because it had more features than gadgetbridge.
I will definitely try Gadgedbrige again when there are less active covid cases in my city so I can continue working out outside.
My main sport activites are free weight lifting and longboarding (long distance, 10+ km, no trick like on skateboard).
In my current app I really like trend charts, especially weight trend (and recommendations on how to lose more weight based on my activity). Do not remember if they were present in Gadgetbridge when I last checked. But I don't like that the app I use now is slow on my old android (looks like unoptimized react native app).
I get it, it’s smart and maybe useful? But creepy as hell.
They mailed her a sales circular filled with baby related items based on she'd already bought a bunch of expectant mom related products (e.g. vitamins, scent free lotion).
But imagine the fun ads you'll get once they have your bio-data.
Here's a coupon for a discount on all your heart transplant meds!
"But I don't take... oh sh*t!"
Also, they had a hardware device designed to take pictures of your body called the "Echo Look" which they canceled not too long ago. Seems strange to introduce new body scanning features soon after that failure.
The most important question is, are you willing to trust amazon with all the data? I sure af don't
On a side note, the first smartwatch to include blood glucose monitoring is going to make an incredible amount of money.
I'm aware there are largely dedicated glucose monitoring devices in the watch form factor, but they aren't good smartwatches for other uses, super-thick, lacking heartrate monitoring and phone notifications, etc.
https://blog.aboutamazon.com/devices/a-better-measure-of-hea...
I remember growing up and reading all of these breathless futuristic magazine articles, books or interviews that featured what technology might be like in the future (the future is now). Those dreamed of devices do a lot of what today's actual devices do. The difference is that the hypothetical devices were built and sold to service the consumer and not act as a vehicle to gather data for whatever unknown purposes the manufacture is really interested in.
I think about the movie "Her" where the AI is purchased and installed onto an owned device and seemingly works only on behalf of the person that installed it and not who built it. Until we get to that sort of mind set (if ever) i will sadly have to opt-out of using these cool inventions.
To acclimate passive surveillance in service of omnichannel sales and marketing.
To quantify and analyze everything.
The only countermeasure is to create tools to directly thwart these efforts, and provide self-contained systems to allow users to reap the benefits of these technologies (monitoring one's own health is certainly an objective good) while preventing those would profit on it from doing so.
I'm envisioning an application set to an encrypted algorithm who injects enough noise into this system, imperceptibly different from human behavior, that by private key the user is able to (privately, securely, and offline) remove the noise for their own analysis.
Basically you take some pictures of yourself and they build a 3D model, then use a neural network to analyze and predict bf%.
They claim "is as accurate as methods a doctor would use" and "we tested accuracy using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA)" but they're not saying exactly how accurate it is compared to DXA, so I suspect the number isn't great.
Perhaps we'll have to wait for Apple to announce their (hopefully) inevitable "health app" offering. I'm hopeful that they'll be smart about making something privacy-centric.
While I buy stuff from Amazon I don't want them inside my house.
Playing devils advocate, but it doesn't sound like they retain any data unless you opt into a third party program. Also the emotional part sounds really creepy.
"For example, Tone results may reveal that a difficult work call leads to less positivity in communication with a customer’s family, an indication of the impact of stress on emotional well-being."
Yeah, no thanks. I don't need a machine to help me regulate my emotions. Coming to a dystopian future near you, a call center using Tone. "It appears you didn't sound positive enough in your last call! Please try harder or you will get written up."
I'm surprised they called it Halo. First thing I thought of was the video game from Bungie.
>Speech samples are always analyzed locally on the customer’s phone
OK, and are they ONLY analyzed there? Are they also uploaded anywhere? Are they also analyzed anywhere else?
>automatically deleted after processing
Deleted from where? The local storage? See above, what if it's also uploaded somewhere else?
>nobody, not even the customer, ever hears them.
No human? Are transcriptions created that could be reviewed by a human?
I just interpreted what I read on the site.
I'm not an insurance expert, but I think services like this, that generate personal data over time, pose the risk of calculating the individual insurance risk much better if the insurance underwriter can evaluate this data on an ongoing basis. It has the potential to skew the risk distribution for all other insurance members in the pool including premium adjustments for people who are not handing over their data.
Privacy of course is a concern but they seem to have addressed this but the test will be of course how it really plays out over time.
Amazon level of privacy (expect none)
Requires pictures of you to provide body readings
This may be good for some buy this is a serious no go for me.
On deeper inspection one of them is determined to have a near undetectable facial tic that could be seen to signal SOS in Morse code. She fails to appear in later promos.
The dystopia deepens.
My Fitbit heart rate monitor is pretty inaccurate, compared to my treadmill's chest monitor. Fitbit's walking calorie estimates are off by +1.5x. Maybe Halo is better
They literally have a cartoon video explaining privacy, such as how you can turn off the microphones, how all health data is anonimized, etc.
Making a cartoon video explaining privacy policy is genius (so long as its not deceitful, which I doubt it is).
Would others agree that anonimizing health data is potentially super useful for society? I also know that Amazon is one of the premier security infrastructure providers, so the data would probably be quite safe, yes?
As far as privacy, I'm more trusting of Amazon than a small startup personally.
How about no.