Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Fitness App Might Be Unfit For Use: Sensitive Military Sites In Iraq And Syria Are Exposed
The New York Times: Strava Fitness App Can Reveal Military Sites, Analysts Say
A fitness app that posts a map of its users’ activity has unwittingly revealed the locations and habits of military bases and personnel, including those of American forces in Iraq and Syria, security analysts say. The app, Strava, which calls itself “the social network for athletes,” allows millions of users to time and map their workouts and to post them online for friends to see, and it can track their movements at other times. The app is especially popular with young people who are serious about fitness, which describes many service members. (Perez-Pena and Rosenberg, 1/29)
The Washington Post: U.S. Military Reviewing Its Rules After Fitness Trackers Exposed Sensitive Data
The concerns raised by the online map went beyond sensitive military sites, with evidence that Strava could help reveal the movements of international aid workers, intelligence operatives and millions of other people in many countries. In the latest discoveries Monday, Internet sleuths found ways of using the publicly available Strava data to identify individual users of the tracking service by name, along with the jogging routes they use in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. (Sly, Lamothe and Timberg, 1/29)
Stat: Online Forums Give Investors An Early Warning Of Shady Scientific Findings
Scientists around the globe nowadays regularly take to the internet to scrutinize research after it’s been published — including to run their own analyses of the data and spot mistakes or fraud. And as interest in this so-called post-publication peer review has swelled, one lawyer argues, biotech and pharma companies would do well to take note. If companies and their investors aren’t reading these sites, they may be the last to know when industry-funded research is called into question. (Oransky and Marcus, 1/30)
The Associated Press: Child Experts: Just Say 'No' To Facebook's Kids App
Child development experts and advocates are urging Facebook to pull the plug on its new messaging app aimed at kids. A group letter sent Tuesday to CEO Mark Zuckerberg argues that younger children — the app is intended for those under 13 — aren't ready to have social media accounts, navigate the complexities of online relationships or protect their own privacy. (O'Brien and Ortutay, 1/30)
