Bobby Kotick Is Counting Periods
April 10, 2019 2:35 PM Subscribe
Activision Blizzard has been pushing a new health benefit for their employees - the reproductive health tracker Ovia, the use of which the company was giving employees $1/day. Of course, what wasn't being said was how Ovia was disclosing the data captured by their app back to Activision Blizzard, and all the privacy, legal, and employment issues tied to that. (SLWaPo)
Activision Blizzard previously.
Activision Blizzard previously.
Never, not once in the corporate world have I seen a "new health benefit" that wasn't an actual detriment to the employee... Wow... creepy creepy...
posted by jkaczor at 2:52 PM on April 10, 2019 [30 favorites]
posted by jkaczor at 2:52 PM on April 10, 2019 [30 favorites]
I guess they fired all those employees to make desk space for all the new babies that they have been tracking? "Morning Samantha, how's little Timmy doing? He's what, two years now? How is he at IW Engine?"
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:04 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:04 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
“People’s sensitivity,” he added, “has gone from, ‘Hey, Activision Blizzard is Big Brother,’ to, ‘Hey, Activision Blizzard really is bringing me tools that can help me out.’ ”
I’d like to be more eloquent, but barf.
posted by greermahoney at 3:08 PM on April 10, 2019 [18 favorites]
I’d like to be more eloquent, but barf.
posted by greermahoney at 3:08 PM on April 10, 2019 [18 favorites]
“Each time we introduced something, there was a bit of an outcry: ‘You’re prying into our lives,’ ” Ezzard said. “But we slowly desensitized the staff of resistance, and eventually people understood working at Blizzard is voluntary, there’s no gun to your head, but we’re going to punish you if you choose not to do it.”
posted by GoblinHoney at 3:15 PM on April 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by GoblinHoney at 3:15 PM on April 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
Clue has a privacy commitment and is Germany EU based. They've also been pretty good about being inclusive and not cute.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 3:19 PM on April 10, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 3:19 PM on April 10, 2019 [12 favorites]
Re: Kotick, I've always found it a little creepy when a full-grown adult uses the diminutive form of his name.
Hey, Bobby McGee's rhythm method only involved windshield wipers.
posted by condour75 at 3:21 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
Hey, Bobby McGee's rhythm method only involved windshield wipers.
posted by condour75 at 3:21 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
For anyone interested in this type of misuse of data I can't recommend Shoshana Zuboff's new book "Surveillance Capitalism" highly enough.
posted by mikek at 3:22 PM on April 10, 2019 [22 favorites]
posted by mikek at 3:22 PM on April 10, 2019 [22 favorites]
Yeah, I'm barfing, too, but that's the world we live in now. If profit is the noblest cause there is, there's no reason to not trust for-profit corporations with...well, anything.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:22 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:22 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ah yes, the old mandatory voluntary ruse. I know it well.
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 3:22 PM on April 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by SonInLawOfSam at 3:22 PM on April 10, 2019 [5 favorites]
“We are crossing into a new frontier of vaginal digitalization,” wrote Natasha Felizi and Joana Varon, who reviewed a group of menstrual-tracking apps for the Brazil-based tech activist group Coding Rights.
I see what they did there.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:27 PM on April 10, 2019 [12 favorites]
I see what they did there.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:27 PM on April 10, 2019 [12 favorites]
I’d like to be more eloquent, but barf.
It looks like you're trying to vomit. Would you like help?
[] Request an emetic
[] Request anti-nausea medication
[] Take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:31 PM on April 10, 2019 [28 favorites]
It looks like you're trying to vomit. Would you like help?
[] Request an emetic
[] Request anti-nausea medication
[] Take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:31 PM on April 10, 2019 [28 favorites]
"I want to spy on the most intimate details of your life" is tired.
"I want to monetize spying on your intimate details" is wired.
posted by poe at 3:36 PM on April 10, 2019 [13 favorites]
"I want to monetize spying on your intimate details" is wired.
posted by poe at 3:36 PM on April 10, 2019 [13 favorites]
Um...something something HIPAA? Anyone?
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 3:36 PM on April 10, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 3:36 PM on April 10, 2019 [14 favorites]
This reminds me that I recently lost my shit at HR last week after receiving a targeted email through our wellness program inviting me to finally lose the weight. A few years ago, I argued with the CEO that the cult of Personal Responsibility around weight loss was dehumanizing. And had plenty of friendly chats with high ranking HR folks about our use of stigmatizing language and processes.
I sent them San Francisco's handbook on Weight and Height discrimination, and pointed out that their behavior meets the guidelines of creating a Hostile Work Environment.
To some extent, I appreciate the efforts to generate so much data. It paints clear the discrimination that often happens behind closed doors. The trouble is getting people to care enough to disrupt the system.
What happens when HR shrugs and says they aren't responsible for their vendor's behavior? Do I really want to risk my livelihood by forcing them to adhere to the law?
And I can already imagine a dozen comments saying that it's not a big deal, and I'm making a big deal out of nothing. But even if I am, there's no reason I need to be having that discussion with my employer or their agents.
posted by politikitty at 3:47 PM on April 10, 2019 [54 favorites]
I sent them San Francisco's handbook on Weight and Height discrimination, and pointed out that their behavior meets the guidelines of creating a Hostile Work Environment.
To some extent, I appreciate the efforts to generate so much data. It paints clear the discrimination that often happens behind closed doors. The trouble is getting people to care enough to disrupt the system.
What happens when HR shrugs and says they aren't responsible for their vendor's behavior? Do I really want to risk my livelihood by forcing them to adhere to the law?
And I can already imagine a dozen comments saying that it's not a big deal, and I'm making a big deal out of nothing. But even if I am, there's no reason I need to be having that discussion with my employer or their agents.
posted by politikitty at 3:47 PM on April 10, 2019 [54 favorites]
After menopause finalized, I stopped buying sanitary supplies. Naturally. And, my urine tests show very different patterns of various hormones. Naturally. Otoh, the change in marketing spam has been fascinating to watch as it now treats me like a middle aged man.
posted by infini at 4:35 PM on April 10, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by infini at 4:35 PM on April 10, 2019 [8 favorites]
Just track it all, including "moods", it's a win-win all around!
Forget employee fitness logging. Mood tracking is the latest HR tech trend:
The company’s new mood tracker and forthcoming chatbot platforms allow employees to log their daily states of mind to help reduce stress — which in turn helps employers create a more resilient workforce.
posted by haemanu at 5:03 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Forget employee fitness logging. Mood tracking is the latest HR tech trend:
The company’s new mood tracker and forthcoming chatbot platforms allow employees to log their daily states of mind to help reduce stress — which in turn helps employers create a more resilient workforce.
posted by haemanu at 5:03 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Pregnant women who track themselves, the company says, will live healthier, feel more in control and be less likely to give birth prematurely or via a C-section, both of which cost more in medical bills — for the family and the employer
I would really, really like to see the data on this and the comparison population. These women are attentive to their health, are probably planning pregnancies, and are probably also utilizing prenatal care more than the average pregnant person. Half of all births in the US are from unintended pregnancies and many people don't have access to or initiate prenatal care (if they get any at all) until later in pregnancy, which is probably making up a major portion of the reduction in C-section and premature delivery.
I don't think this gets into the territory of HIPAA violations since the data that companies can access has no personal identifiers. It is very uncomfortable, though, and given the small number of events the chance of identifying someone is pretty high, particularly if there is a rare outcome.
posted by arachnidette at 5:05 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
I would really, really like to see the data on this and the comparison population. These women are attentive to their health, are probably planning pregnancies, and are probably also utilizing prenatal care more than the average pregnant person. Half of all births in the US are from unintended pregnancies and many people don't have access to or initiate prenatal care (if they get any at all) until later in pregnancy, which is probably making up a major portion of the reduction in C-section and premature delivery.
I don't think this gets into the territory of HIPAA violations since the data that companies can access has no personal identifiers. It is very uncomfortable, though, and given the small number of events the chance of identifying someone is pretty high, particularly if there is a rare outcome.
posted by arachnidette at 5:05 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
Ok, before even RTFA: this guy is definitely a dumber, straighter Hannibal, right? Like we await the inevitable exposé?
posted by schadenfrau at 5:12 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 5:12 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
> The company’s new mood tracker and forthcoming chatbot platforms allow employees to log their daily states of mind to help reduce stress — which in turn helps employers create a more resilient workforce.
being compelled to lie to an app several times a day will definitely reduce my stress.
(that said, now that I think about it I have to lie to devices all the time. I have to click every positive box and type “the best! super cool driver!” after every time I take an app cab, I have to mash the green button on the “how are we doing?” machine five or six times every time I pee in an airport, I have to use a vpn to convince the internet that I’m in panama or whenever I want to download star trek: discovery, etc etc.)
but it’s particularly galling when I have to lie to a machine to get the money I need to buy food, yknow? like great now I have to falsify both my timesheets AND my emotional timesheets. great.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 5:33 PM on April 10, 2019 [41 favorites]
being compelled to lie to an app several times a day will definitely reduce my stress.
(that said, now that I think about it I have to lie to devices all the time. I have to click every positive box and type “the best! super cool driver!” after every time I take an app cab, I have to mash the green button on the “how are we doing?” machine five or six times every time I pee in an airport, I have to use a vpn to convince the internet that I’m in panama or whenever I want to download star trek: discovery, etc etc.)
but it’s particularly galling when I have to lie to a machine to get the money I need to buy food, yknow? like great now I have to falsify both my timesheets AND my emotional timesheets. great.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 5:33 PM on April 10, 2019 [41 favorites]
Shifting some pregnancy care to an app where the women could give constant check-ins made a huge difference: Nearly 20 women who had been diagnosed as infertile had become pregnant since the company started offering Ovia’s fertility app, Ezzard said.
Gah, it's like an ad for 'stupid people can be CEO too'.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 5:36 PM on April 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
Gah, it's like an ad for 'stupid people can be CEO too'.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 5:36 PM on April 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
I have to mash the green button on the “how are we doing?” machine every time I use a restroom in an airport
What is this? Am I visiting low-rent airports that don’t care how I think they’re doing in restroom sanitation and maintenance? Because I’ve never seen this green button machine.
posted by greermahoney at 5:39 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
What is this? Am I visiting low-rent airports that don’t care how I think they’re doing in restroom sanitation and maintenance? Because I’ve never seen this green button machine.
posted by greermahoney at 5:39 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
I've started acting dumb to Captchathingie because over here in finland we don't have crosswalks, yellow school buses, and storefront stripmalls ... sorry, no spikka da languaje
posted by infini at 5:42 PM on April 10, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by infini at 5:42 PM on April 10, 2019 [8 favorites]
zebra crossings, regular public transit or a taxicab system, market hall in case you were wondering
posted by infini at 5:44 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by infini at 5:44 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Gross
posted by potrzebie at 5:44 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by potrzebie at 5:44 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
the first one i ever saw was in singapore, but they’ve been popping up more and more in airports in the southern u.s. states lately. (last one I remember interacting with was in new orleans).
you’d have to be a genuine psychopath to do anything but mash the green button. I hope they don’t discount multiple presses in a row, because I always feel compelled to stand there and hit it over and over again. if people hit the red button (or i bet even the yellow button) a person with a miserable underpaid job gets reprimanded. like, christ, what kind of person does that to someone else?
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 5:45 PM on April 10, 2019 [20 favorites]
you’d have to be a genuine psychopath to do anything but mash the green button. I hope they don’t discount multiple presses in a row, because I always feel compelled to stand there and hit it over and over again. if people hit the red button (or i bet even the yellow button) a person with a miserable underpaid job gets reprimanded. like, christ, what kind of person does that to someone else?
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 5:45 PM on April 10, 2019 [20 favorites]
I'm amused that at the bottom of this article about people giving health information to companies without examining how it'll be used there's a form: "Do you use a pregnancy or period-tracking app? We want to hear about your experiences and may contact you to learn more."
posted by aneel at 5:46 PM on April 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by aneel at 5:46 PM on April 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Jeremy Bentham would have approved of this chilling Panovacon.
posted by ...possums at 6:08 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ...possums at 6:08 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
The only reason these employers care about your health is to reduce insurance premiums. Single payer now.
posted by M-x shell at 6:16 PM on April 10, 2019 [20 favorites]
posted by M-x shell at 6:16 PM on April 10, 2019 [20 favorites]
From the article:
Also, this quote from the Activision HR exec:
posted by mhum at 6:17 PM on April 10, 2019 [31 favorites]
But health and privacy experts say it’s relatively easy for a bad actor to “re-identify” a person by cross-referencing that information with other data. The trackers’ availability in companies with few pregnant women on staff, they say, could also leave the data vulnerable to abuse. Ovia says its contract prohibits employers from attempting to re-identify employees.Oh, the contract prohibits it? Well, *dusting off hands* all sorted then.
Also, this quote from the Activision HR exec:
“I want them to have a healthy baby because it’s great for our business experience,” Ezzard said. “Rather than having a baby who’s in the neonatal ICU, where she’s not able to focus much on work.”makes it sound like it's the baby in NICU that's not able to focus on work. And, well, with the way things are going...
posted by mhum at 6:17 PM on April 10, 2019 [31 favorites]
Ezzard said. “Rather than having a baby who’s in the neonatal ICU, where she’s not able to focus much on work.”
"What I really hate are the women who work for this company who have the gall to have unhealthy babies, really screws up our productivity projections."
posted by axiom at 6:20 PM on April 10, 2019 [53 favorites]
"What I really hate are the women who work for this company who have the gall to have unhealthy babies, really screws up our productivity projections."
posted by axiom at 6:20 PM on April 10, 2019 [53 favorites]
I don't think this gets into the territory of HIPAA violations since the data that companies can access has no personal identifiers. It is very uncomfortable, though, and given the small number of events the chance of identifying someone is pretty high, particularly if there is a rare outcome.
I don't know if this applies to employers, but under HIPAA, if a record contains enough information to make the chance of identifying someone "pretty high," it's not considered to be de-identified, even if the record doesn't have anything like the person's name or other unique identifier. For example, a record containing the exact time of an appointment might not be considered de-identified if it is possible to match non-protected information about an individual's appointment time with the protected record. And following on mhum's point, a policy of not re-identifying data has no bearing on whether the HIPAA protections have been violated.
At least this is my understanding from my training in handling human subjects research data.
posted by biogeo at 6:29 PM on April 10, 2019 [11 favorites]
I don't know if this applies to employers, but under HIPAA, if a record contains enough information to make the chance of identifying someone "pretty high," it's not considered to be de-identified, even if the record doesn't have anything like the person's name or other unique identifier. For example, a record containing the exact time of an appointment might not be considered de-identified if it is possible to match non-protected information about an individual's appointment time with the protected record. And following on mhum's point, a policy of not re-identifying data has no bearing on whether the HIPAA protections have been violated.
At least this is my understanding from my training in handling human subjects research data.
posted by biogeo at 6:29 PM on April 10, 2019 [11 favorites]
And the credit bureaus have a new product to sell: they chart your day to day emotional lability across the month and assign an algorithmic score for future reference in job interviews.
Not to worry ladies, up soon: eye tracking for males so companies can weed out future sexual harassment suits before they happen.
posted by Fupped Duck at 6:32 PM on April 10, 2019
Not to worry ladies, up soon: eye tracking for males so companies can weed out future sexual harassment suits before they happen.
posted by Fupped Duck at 6:32 PM on April 10, 2019
zebra crossings, regular public transit or a taxicab system, market hall in case you were wondering
posted by infini
Gross
posted by potrzebie
I'm reasonably sure potrzebie's comment was a reaction to the company's behavior and not infini's comment, but reading them one after the other made me chuckle.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:39 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by infini
Gross
posted by potrzebie
I'm reasonably sure potrzebie's comment was a reaction to the company's behavior and not infini's comment, but reading them one after the other made me chuckle.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:39 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
I sometimes think what Facebook would have to pay me to re-join after deleting my account a couple of years ago. $10 a day might do it. Maybe. Send me a PM, Zuck, you know it's worth it!
posted by exogenous at 6:40 PM on April 10, 2019
posted by exogenous at 6:40 PM on April 10, 2019
Nothing to add, other than:
Fuck Those People.
posted by Ickster at 6:51 PM on April 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
Fuck Those People.
posted by Ickster at 6:51 PM on April 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
The company’s new mood tracker and forthcoming chatbot platforms allow employees to log their daily states of mind to help reduce stress
Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that "allow" might not be quite . . . accurate . . .
posted by soundguy99 at 7:42 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that "allow" might not be quite . . . accurate . . .
posted by soundguy99 at 7:42 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
"You can be any mood you want as long as it's 'happy'."
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:04 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:04 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
Looks like I was right to be paranoid.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:55 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:55 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
like great now I have to falsify both my timesheets AND my emotional timesheets. great.
Our new system has always-on voice recognition mode, so you'll be empowered to log your emotional state in real time without ever having to touch a timesheet again. Employee satisfaction is our #1 priority!
posted by flabdablet at 9:49 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Our new system has always-on voice recognition mode, so you'll be empowered to log your emotional state in real time without ever having to touch a timesheet again. Employee satisfaction is our #1 priority!
posted by flabdablet at 9:49 PM on April 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
WaPo:
posted by flabdablet at 9:56 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Founded in Boston in 2012, Ovia began as a consumer-facing app that made money in the tried-and-true advertising fashion of Silicon Valley. But three years ago, Wallace said, the company was approached by large national insurers who said the app could help them improve medical outcomes and access maternity data via the women themselves.That's the power of selling out!
Ovia’s corporate deals with employers and insurers have seen “triple-digit growth” in recent years, Wallace said. The company would not say how many firms it works with, but the number of employees at those companies is around 10 million, a statistic Ovia refers to as “covered lives.”
posted by flabdablet at 9:56 PM on April 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Our new system has always-on voice recognition mode, so you'll be empowered to log your emotional state in real time without ever having to touch a timesheet again.
Hey, if I can manage to avoid telling my support customers they're blithering idiots who couldn't pour water out of a boot if the directions were written on the heel, I can sure as hell game a voice-recognition algorithm into reporting that I'm psychologically stable.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:18 PM on April 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Hey, if I can manage to avoid telling my support customers they're blithering idiots who couldn't pour water out of a boot if the directions were written on the heel, I can sure as hell game a voice-recognition algorithm into reporting that I'm psychologically stable.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:18 PM on April 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Wait, you're saying the directions are on the heel? I would never have thought of looking for them there. What kind of shitty product design is that? I'm never buying anything from you again.
posted by flabdablet at 10:21 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:21 PM on April 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
Per the terms of our Service Contract, I'm required to inform you that your ClodPate device currently reports glowing in the Orange spectrum, indicating insufficient system resources are available. As a first troubleshooting step, please grow a cell before re-initializing the system, then let me know if you encounter any further nitwittedness.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:10 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:10 PM on April 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
I once had an employer who demanded a blood test to verify that I wasn’t a smoker. So for two years I paid the higher smoker rate for health insurance as I refused to literally bleed for the company.
The corporate pedometer challenges were bad enough, these health tracker apps are invasive beyond all reason.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:17 PM on April 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
The corporate pedometer challenges were bad enough, these health tracker apps are invasive beyond all reason.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:17 PM on April 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Is there a non-paywalled version of the WaPo story available?
posted by Thorzdad at 4:22 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 4:22 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
the thing is, as someone in a business relationship with my employer (I'm freely selling my labor time to them on the free market, after all), it's in my interest to know as much as possible about their health and mental state. Do the people in the C-Suite have unhealthy habits that might impact their performance? Do they have the type of positive attitude that will make them resilient? Are they (or, let's be honest, their wives) at risk of having a premature birth?
I need to be able to track this data (not individualized, of course, just in aggregate) in order to make an informed decision about the business arrangement that we've freely entered into as equals.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 7:20 AM on April 11, 2019 [17 favorites]
I need to be able to track this data (not individualized, of course, just in aggregate) in order to make an informed decision about the business arrangement that we've freely entered into as equals.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 7:20 AM on April 11, 2019 [17 favorites]
Those airport bathroom satisfaction buttons are probably filthy.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:02 AM on April 11, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:02 AM on April 11, 2019 [3 favorites]
I once had an employer who demanded a blood test to verify that I wasn’t a smoker. So for two years I paid the higher smoker rate for health insurance as I refused to literally bleed for the company.
You really stuck it to the man by giving them more of your money...?
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:05 AM on April 11, 2019
You really stuck it to the man by giving them more of your money...?
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:05 AM on April 11, 2019
From someone in a position to know:
It's an uncanny-valley fucked-incentives version of how preventative / wellness care works under community rating and actual universal healthcare.
posted by holgate at 10:46 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yep. My first week there I noticed everybody was wearing practically the same style of the employer-offered discounted fitbit, and I felt like I joined a cult.I'm struck by "gamification of the wrapper" in... well, the games industry. It's obviously tied to the costs of a group health insurance and specifically the cost impact of hiring more women, which is why group policies need to go away. It reminds me somewhat of a piece Daniel Davies wrote a while back (pre-ACA) on gene pools and risk pools: the relationship between employers and insurers in the US is becoming more dependent on anticipating and offsetting medical costs through data acquisition from employees, but that by itself alters the risk pool.
As the article says, the tracking apps just multiplied quite quickly: fitness, food, sleeping, mental health, 'brain training'... I'm forgetting some. It was voluntary, and I never experienced pressure to join any.
My colleagues were very aware re the risks and snarky regarding HQ's likely intentions, but I suspect the $$$, the cool offers and the well-designed gamification of the wrapper and individual apps proved too enticing to resist.
It's an uncanny-valley fucked-incentives version of how preventative / wellness care works under community rating and actual universal healthcare.
posted by holgate at 10:46 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
I can sure as hell game a voice-recognition algorithm into reporting that I'm psychologically stable.
So - I work from home, and have multiple computing devices - I could rig one up with a bunch of pre-recorded phrases of me saying positive things, played at random times. Make it run 24/7 and I would be the bestest employee ever... (Skew the curves...)
Therefore - "consipiracy theorist hat-on", are all these gamifications that we must play created to adjust our overall moral compasses so that "truth" is completely fluid?
Because, if we are constantly lying about things, then why should we ever question our leaders/C-level suite when they lie? After all, everyone does it, right?
posted by jkaczor at 10:55 AM on April 11, 2019
So - I work from home, and have multiple computing devices - I could rig one up with a bunch of pre-recorded phrases of me saying positive things, played at random times. Make it run 24/7 and I would be the bestest employee ever... (Skew the curves...)
Therefore - "consipiracy theorist hat-on", are all these gamifications that we must play created to adjust our overall moral compasses so that "truth" is completely fluid?
Because, if we are constantly lying about things, then why should we ever question our leaders/C-level suite when they lie? After all, everyone does it, right?
posted by jkaczor at 10:55 AM on April 11, 2019
There's a power imbalance between the corporate lies and the individual lies.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:07 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:07 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
There's a power imbalance between the corporate lies and the individual lies.
Exactly - and by constantly gaming things ourselves (and accepting that this is "normal behaviour"), we keep handing ever more leeway to those in power, continuing to increase that imbalance into an intractable gulf.
posted by jkaczor at 11:12 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
Exactly - and by constantly gaming things ourselves (and accepting that this is "normal behaviour"), we keep handing ever more leeway to those in power, continuing to increase that imbalance into an intractable gulf.
posted by jkaczor at 11:12 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
I honestly doubt it - employees could be literal angels and those in power would continue to be exploitative bastards.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:26 AM on April 11, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:26 AM on April 11, 2019
Also I disagree that the sort of gaming we do is changing anyone's moral compass. I don't know anyone who has become a manipulative jerk outside the office (not any more than they were already, anyway) as a result of playing with corporate metrics.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:30 AM on April 11, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:30 AM on April 11, 2019
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Ah, the boiled frog strategy
posted by BungaDunga at 2:51 PM on April 10, 2019 [68 favorites]