News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Google/Fitbit will monetise health data and harm consumers [pdf]. Parent comment

Re:Google/Fitbit will monetise health data and harm consumer... by ceejayoz on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @03:04PM (#25521568)
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, yes.

The point is that "corporations will monetize data" isn't an extraordinary claim.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google/Fitbit will monetise health data and harm consumer... by fastball on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @03:12PM (#25521646)
No, that is an ordinary claim, and one that has plenty of ordinary evidence to back it up.

This company will monetize this data is also an ordinary claim (from history), but similarly needs evidence. "Companies have monetized similar in the past" is not evidence they'll do it in this case.

If you're a gambler, you should absolutely use that fact to inform your betting, but it's not evidence.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Google/Fitbit will monetise health data and harm consumer... by ceejayoz on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @03:26PM (#25521790)
I'm not a fan of "regulators must allow actual harm before intervening" here.
[ Parent | on HN ]