Your Fears Of The Nanny State Are Right Wing Paranoia
Sure, we can’t search your cell phone but we will comb through all your purchases
You may soon get a call from your doctor if you’ve let your gym membership lapse, made a habit of picking up candy bars at the check-out counter or begin shopping at plus-sized stores.
That’s because some hospitals are starting to use detailed consumer data to create profiles on current and potential patients to identify those most likely to get sick, so the hospitals can intervene before they do.
Information compiled by data brokers from public records and credit card transactions can reveal where a person shops, the food they buy, and whether they smoke. The largest hospital chain in the Carolinas is plugging data for 2 million people into algorithms designed to identify high-risk patients, while Pennsylvania’s biggest system uses household and demographic data. Patients and their advocates, meanwhile, say they’re concerned that big data’s expansion into medical care will hurt the doctor-patient relationship and threaten privacy.
Here’s a quote that should give you confidence:
“The data is already used to market to people to get them to do things that might not always be in the best interest of the consumer, we are looking to apply this for something good,” Dulin said.
Your ‘best interest’ is not for you to decide, the Experts will do it for you.
Rejoice, Dullard!
Just remember to pay for the good healthy stuff with the credit card. Then pay for the other stuff with cash.
Or just switch to cash altogether.
Exactly, cash will again be king.
Remember this gem? Of course, the ACLU tossed all that ‘civil liberties’ schtick when Bam got elected.
Cash!
So, you’re saying I need to start paying cash whenever I give in to my Necco Wafer and Gummi Bear addictions?
And don’t forget to ask for the plain brown paper wrapper Julie.
“I’m sorry, Dave, I can’t sell you those Oreos.”
I can tell them right where they can put their “best interest.”
Bing, I think I’ll just stuff the candy bars into my mouth, like that video of the hamster eating baby carrots. 🙂