Samsung Health is holding your health data hostage so it can use it to train Samsung’s AI models.
A new option has appeared in Samsung Health’s settings, and it lets you turn off Samsung’s ability to use your data to train its AI models (via Android Authority). If you’re not an AI fan, then that sounds great.
But there’s a kicker here. If you turn it off, then a warning pops up, informing you that turning this option off will delete your existing Samsung Health data and stop any further syncing with Samsung’s servers.
Samsung Health is now an AI-or-nothing deal
It’s hardly likely to surprise anyone that a large company with a greedy AI model to feed would resort to using every single scrap of data it could. But it’s definitely a surprise that it would pull such a blatantly anti-consumer move.
Samsung Health is the app you use if you use a Galaxy Watch or a Samsung smartphone, and given quite a lot of people do, it’s safe to assume Samsung is getting a lot of data for its AI.
But, it’s your data, and you might assume Samsung will let you bar it from using that data. And technically, it does. Only, it means you won’t be allowed to use that data again.
Discovered by How to Geek, there’s now an option to withdraw your consent for Samsung to train AI using your data. However, attempting to untick that box will trigger a pop-up telling you that withdrawing your consent will lead to Samsung withdrawing its toys and going home.
In short, no AI training, no Samsung Health. Withdrawing your consent means Samsung will delete your health data, unless “required by law” — an odd choice of words.
Yes, you can make the argument that Samsung is allowed to ask for whatever price it likes for the software it owns and develops, but there’s some quite unsavory about this particular practice. Not only is this a piece of software that millions will have been using long before this requirement, but it feels very anti-consumer.
You can find out exactly which data is gathered by Samsung on this page. The data gathered contains everything from your mental wellness and menstrual cycle information, to the medications you take.
Which would be fine if people were given the chance to opt out and keep using the service they’ve been using for years.
Unfortunately, Samsung has chosen to go down a less consumer-friendly path with Samsung Health. An especially unfortunate turn for an app I’ve personally enjoyed using.
