Throughout the coronavirus crisis, Fitbit, the wearable technology company, has published insights into how restriction of movement orders have affected the daily habits of its 30 million active users around the world.
If the story of the pandemic is often told in statistics – more than seven million cases have been confirmed in over 200 countries and territories since the health crisis began less than six months ago – this data helps build out one strand of that narrative.
The first freely available data release was on March 23, when stay at home orders were about to grow stronger in the UAE, but in southern Europe, lockdowns were already widespread and the numbers revealed steep declines in user step counts.
Users in Spain recorded 38 per cent drops in steps in the week ending March 22 when compared to the same period in 2019. In Italy, step counts were 25 per cent down among active users, reflecting the severity of the health crisis that gripped both countries in those spring days.
In 2013, Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, left, and Kenneth Neil Cukier wrote an important book titled Big Data. Alamy Live News
Fitbit produced other findings, including that young people's activity was most affected by shelter at home orders and, somewhat counter-intuitively, that despite heightened levels of anxiety associated with the pandemic, users in the US slept more in April than in the same month in 2019. The analysts suggest that not needing to wake up early to commute to work or to do the school run may have accounted for that uptick in rest.
None of the above is meant to trivialise the global health crisis by reducing it to step counts; rather it is to show the power of large data pools and the multiple insights that can be extracted from them. Today’s sleep scores might be tomorrow’s health solutions.
Big data has, of course, been shaping our lives for years. More than a decade ago, for instance, Google was already able to predict the spread of seasonal flu by analysing the frequency of searches related to symptoms, susceptibility to infection and so on.
In 2020, data has allowed scientists, analysts and policymakers to constantly update their understanding of the spread of coronavirus and to react accordingly. The fact that some of those choices have turned out to be wrong is not the fault of the data itself, although it may reveal a flaw in the modelling.
Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and fellow academic Kenneth Neil Cukier wrote an absorbing text on the broader subject titled Big Data in 2013.
An employee searches for record cards in the Stasi's archive in Berlin in the 1980s. In the erstwhile East Germany, the state’s secret police spied on citizens and recorded details on tens of millions of index cards. Courtesy of Fabrizio Bensch
Back then, the pair predicted that data was “poised to shake up every aspect of society”; few would disagree with them now, but they also delivered a strong liability vision about the handling of it.
The authors made the point that in the former East Germany of the 1980s, the state’s secret police used to employ thousands of people to spy on citizens, recording details on at least “39 million index cards and 70 miles of documents”.
But the data the Stasi collected at huge cost to the state represents a tiny drop in the deep information pool that is now held on almost every global citizen by tech giants. Worse still, for the most part, the data we offer up in the 21st century is often unwittingly surrendered in the form of social media posts, smartphone apps and browser searches for it to be monetised.
While the privacy issue has been moot for several years, the coronavirus crisis has, perhaps, reinforced the view that technology can help us win the battle over Covid-19. It may also present the only viable path forward in the short-term, especially in the absence of a vaccine.
Tony Blair believes technology will provide the solution to restarting the world economy. AFP
Speaking earlier this week, former UK prime minister Tony Blair called on the international community to consider personal "digital identities" as a method to kickstart economies idling under lockdowns and low consumer confidence.
“Unless you're able to record people's disease status in a way that can be used, it's going to be difficult to go back to anything like a near normal,” he said in relation to international trade and travel.
Wearable technology may provide a key part of that digital armoury and could also prove more effective than track-and-trace apps, because of the volume of data it can record and the insights it can provide.
As The National reported this week, Apple is looking at ways its watch could be used to detect heart problems and Fitbit is working with research partners to see if its technology can help provide specific health alerts. Both companies have vast mines of data to tap.
Prof Michael Snyder, chair of genetics at Stanford School of Medicine, said that smartwatches make at least 250,000 measurements a day and could be used to notify users if their temperature or heart rate changed, in effect quickly moving the track-and-trace model towards a sophisticated and accurate early warning system.
Returning to Mr Schonberger and Mr Cukier, their book wondered if there would be any space left for uncertainty and intuition in the big data future.
The past few months have provided an emphatic answer, and that answer is yes.
When certainty recedes so do economies and communities. When we rely too heavily on intuition we inevitably make mistakes.
Wearable technology, smart AI solutions and usable digital identities may be the best ways to restore confidence and get the world back on track.
Nick March is an assistant editor-in-chief at The National
Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.
Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.
Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.
When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
