Amazon has a dangerous ambition to dominate healthcare.
By Roger McNamee and Johnny Ryan, Time
Patient privacy has been inviolable since the time of Hippocrates, in 400 BC. That may be about to end. Last week Amazon announced it is going to acquire One Medical, a health care provider with over 700,000 patients.
Big Tech has flirted with health care for years. Amazon’s direct entry into primary health care is a turning point. It will increase the perils of surveillance capitalism, with implications for everyone.
Amazon knows our guilty pleasures, what we buy, what pills we buy, and what we watch and read and listen to. Its devices listen in our homes, and peep out of our (Amazon Ring) door bells. Amazon’s “Kuiper” satellites will soon connect our Internet.
Recent scandals revealed that Amazon uses the data collected for supposedly innocent reasons in ways that betray our trust. Amazon staff say there are no limits on how Amazon uses this data internally. According to Amazon’s former head of information security: “We have no idea where our fucking data is.”
Recent Posts
Now It Can Be Told… After All The Harm Has Been Done
Take Action Now Written by a former Kabul bureau chief for the Times, the article appeared under a headline saying that “U.S.-backed militias” in…
The U.S. Should Restore Normal Relations With Cuba
Take Action NowPresident Trump’s decision to roll back our opening with Cuba was disastrous. As he takes office again, he should reconsider.……
Democrats Have Boxed Themselves In As A War Party
Take Action NowDuring Biden’s term, Democrats have become the party promoting war and overseas conflict.By Norman Solomon,…
The War On Terror’s Legal Abuses Are Still With Us Today
Take Action NowFrom the global War on Terror to Donald Trump’s second term, a legacy of legal abuses.By Karen J. Greenberg,…