If Facebook made a mixed-reality headset packed with a dozen cameras that not only scanned your living room but also your eyeballs, would you wear it? If Amazon.com made a journaling app that prompted you daily to give behavioral data, would you dish? If Google made a watch that asked you to log the peaks and troughs of your moods to build a picture of your mental health, would you give that information away?
If you answered “no” to these questions, you’ve also highlighted the unique position Apple has carved out for itself. It’s spent the last decade building up a reputation for protecting its customers’ privacy — and it is increasingly putting that to the test. At its World Wide Developers Conference this week, the company announced new products that would process more personal information about consumers than ever before, from retinal scans to mental health data.
The company’s new Journal app, which will come out this September, prompts users to write about their experiences throughout the day based on where they’ve been, what music they’ve listened to and what exercise they might have done. A new feature in Apple’s Health app meanwhile encourages people to log their daily emotions on their iPhone or Apple Watch. The goal is to “enable users… to better care for their mental health.”
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