Re:Oura says it gets government demands for user data
by nkrisc on Saturday May 23, 2026 @01:26PM
(#48249434)
Accidentally inferring. They were using basic machine learning to send coupons for predicted future purchases based on past purchases and general trends. And as far as I’m aware, it only happened once (or was only publicized once).
Re:Oura says it gets government demands for user data
by fc417fc802 on Saturday May 23, 2026 @02:48PM
(#48250170)
It almost certainly happened regularly since the entire point of the program was to make accurate predictions about future purchases. The practical impact of acting on those predictions only caused mild controversy and became publicized the one time (at least that I'm aware of) but we have no reason to expect that the program was unsuccessful and every reason to expect that it was.
Re:Oura says it gets government demands for user data
by bladeacidic on Sunday May 24, 2026 @07:30AM
(#48256430)
The thing that cocaine users have noticed, is that using cocaine raises their heart-rate. Noticeably. So the government getting heart rate data means they know when those users are doing coke. Wouldn't the DEA like to know where all the cocaine users with Oura rings in the US are?
Tech companies when they speak to VCs: look at all the creepy things we can infer with ooodles of aggregated data and AI to maximize targeted ad revenue, we're worth 50x what an equivalent non-tech company in our sector is valued, because of all the things we can do with all that data from all those people together
Tech companies when they speak to their customers: oh you're so silly to even ask about privacy, what possible utility could there be in that single isolated variable?