I don't know why I did it, but when I went into A&P for a couple of items, I passed the pharmacy on the way to checkout. On a complete whim I decided to sit down at the blood pressure monitoring station and check my BP. I put my arm through the cuff, sat still for a few seconds, and then hit the start button. My results came up (118/78), I got up and left.
By the time I reached home 10 minutes later, I had an email from a company called "Hiji"
higi Check-in Results
Get pumped. You just received blood pressure/weight results from
a higi Station. Click the button below and you'll be on your way
|
What a total shock to me. I have never signed up for anything of this sort - I can track my BP and weight with a pencil and paper. But the kicker is that I just sat down, an anomymous person at a BP machine, and hit the Start button. At no time did I have to enter any personal info. How in the world did this machine recognize me and know my email address???
I wrote to the company and told them I felt this was an invasion of privacy and a scam, and they responded that I must have signed up for it myself.
So sorry for any trouble. You received our email because you registered for a higi account either online at higi.com or at one of our retail higi Stations (higi.com/locator). higi Stations are kiosks in grocery stores and pharmacies where you can check your health vitals. To learn more about us visit our website at higi.com/about!
I wrote back and said if my name had been entered it was done by someone else as a joke because I never signed up for it. Then I got to thinking, how in the world does that machine recognize me in the first place without my entering any personal information. My d-i-l said maybe if my phone was on my person the machine could read it, but I don't have a smart phone of any kind. Maybe I should write the Jitterbug phone people and ask them.
This is a total mystery to me and I welcome comments and suggestions. Also, be aware that it could happen to you, and that no information about ourselves is really private or safe anymore.
Posts
Driver's licenses have chips in them. The machine read your driver's license.
ReplyDeleteThere are only a few states that haven't kow-towed to this federal mandate and you are now required to have a passport in those states to board airlines. http://sixbearsinthewoods.blogspot.com/2015/09/federal-power-trumps-state-rights.html
Oh dear. I don't like the sound of this at all. Chips that tell who you are, phones that tell who you are and apparently your email address too. Scary! Big brother is definitely watching and it isn't the government, it's corporate America. I doubt Huxley and Orwell would be surprised.
ReplyDeleteThe movie, 1984, is coming true.
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed scary stuff & sounds like something that should be totally illegal!!
ReplyDelete1984 has arrived but we did not notice since we love our electronic devices to much:(
ReplyDeleteOh, no, that is downright scary!!!! How could that happen?
ReplyDeleteI don't like this one bit, this is to creepy that these things can read all our information with out presenting it or signing up for it. I'll never use one of those machines
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's creepy for sure. And will make me never use one of those machines. Too bad. :(
ReplyDeleteI don't like the idea that me phone or drivers license is giving out info about me.
ReplyDeleteVery weird. But I did think of a solution if you want to check your bp at one of those machines. Leave your purse, or whatever else you carry your license in, in the car.
ReplyDeleteI was also thinking that I have definitely used those machines before, and never had anything like this happen. But I don't always carry my license/wallet with me.
ReplyDeleteWOW I just tead this today. Scary business. I guess there is nothing about us that is not out there somewhere. Keep us informed.
ReplyDeleteJust bot to thinking that could the machine be connected to the pharmacy? Did you nuy something there and did you pay with debit or credit?
ReplyDelete