Should You Be Worried About Oura Ring Privacy?
Key Takeaways
- Oura Ring gathers 50+ health metrics that can build detailed digital health profiles-valuable to insurers, health-tech firms, and potentially governments.
- Partnerships with the U.S. DoD and Palantir sparked user backlash over possible government or third-party access to sensitive data.
- Oura states that it won't sell or share data without consent, is GDPR/HIPAA compliant, uses enterprise-only setups for DoD, and claims that Palantir can't access user data; Trump-era health record efforts are opt-in.
- The privacy policy allows sharing with consent, for legal obligations or legitimate interests" (e.g., mergers and acquisitions), and promises to resist surveillance-motivated requests, notify users when lawful, and allow users to delete their data.
Oura Health recently faced criticism from users due to its partnership with the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the data mining company Palantir.
Users also expressed concern when the Trump administration announced its collaboration with tech giants, such as Oura, to develop a universal healthcare record system.
Should you be concerned about your sleep and health data now that Oura has partnered with the U.S. government and Palantir? Read on to find out more.
For our readers unfamiliar with Oura Health, it's a Finnish company that sells a ring to monitor sleep, fitness, and other health metrics.
The Business of SleepWe live in a sleep-deprived world. According to the ResMed global sleep survey, nearly 4 in 10 people get no more than three nights of quality sleep per week worldwide.
With many people worldwide not getting sufficient sleep, tech companies are launching various wearables to help users understand and improve their sleep patterns.
It's no surprise that the global sleep tech market is forecasted to grow from $29.3 billion in 2025 to $134.7 billion in 2034.
The company has sold more than 3 million rings over the past year and is expected to reach a valuation of $11 billion after the recent funding round.
Oura Health's growth is evident not just in numbers but also in its strong adoption among tech CEOs, including Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, and David Risher.
Lyft CEO David Risher even mentioned that he checks the ring's report every day after brushing his teeth to gain insights into how restful his sleep was the night before
Alongside Oura's growth and its potential for health benefits comes a deeper question: what can happen to all the personal health data it collects?
When Wellness Turns into Big DataOura is a smart ring that can be worn on any finger. It tracks 50+ health and wellness metrics throughout the day and night. These metrics are spread across Sleep & Rest, Heart Health, Stress, Women's Health, and Activity & Movement.
That said, the ring collects data that reveals a lot more than your bedtime habit. Over time, these readings can create a comprehensive health profile, which insurance companies and health technology companies are always eager to obtain. Beyond that, governments can also be interested in citizens' health data for various policy purposes.
The US President,Donald Trump, launching a health tracking systemwith the help of big tech companies is such an example, and Oura Health is a part of it.
Furthermore, Oura Health has also partnered with the US Department of Defense and Palantir, which raised several questions in users' minds about the privacy of their health data.
It's only natural for a question to arise at this point-can you really trust that your health data is safe when using the Oura smart ring?
How Safe Is Your Data?Following the backlash over privacy concerns, Oura Health's CEO issued a statement stating that the privacy and security of users' health data are non-negotiable.
The company's blog mentions that Oura will oppose legal authorities if they request access to users' data for surveillance and prosecution purposes.
Regarding the DoD deal, Oura stated that it would never share your data with the DoD or other government entities. DoD and government contracts utilize the Oura Enterprise solution, which includes additional security measures. Unless you're a serviceman and you have enrolled in the DoD health or human performance program, your data will not be shared with DoD.
Moreover, Trump's health tracking system is opt-in, so you can choose to opt out if you don't want to share your Oura ring data with the government.
But should you be worried about the Palantir partnership?
Oura Health CEO, Tom Hale, mentioned that Oura and Palantir systems are not connected. So Palantir cannot access users' data, ruling out any data mining threat from the company.
Notably, the Palantir partnership was at the center of privacy concerns.
Oura will never sell your data. We will never share your data without your consent or your authorization. If you want to participate in a research study and you want to do that? Great. We're going to provide you the tools to do that.
However, consent and authorization can be tricky, and many of us often don't read lengthy privacy policies.
What does Oura's privacy policy have to say? Find out in the next section.
Can You Truly Rest EasyWe reviewedOura's privacy policy document to learn more about its data collection and sharing practices.
Oura can share your data in certain circumstances when:
- Users have given express permission.
- Oura needs data for legitimate interests, such as mergers or acquisitions.
- Oura has to protect its legal rights and property.
Additionally, the company may also disclose your personal data when there is a valid legal requirement. But it will oppose a legal request for data disclosure if the motive is surveillance or prosecution. It will also notify you within a legally permissible time about such a request.
When Oura shares your data with third-party service providers, it uses industry-standard data protection measures.Its privacy policy states:
Whenever we share data with third-party service providers, we require that they use your information only for the purposes we've authorized, and for the limited reasons explained in this Policy. We also require these service providers to protect your personal information to at least the same standards that we do.
We found its privacy policy to be firm, and the company iscompliant with GDPRandHIPAA. Based onOura's commitment to health data privacy and security,and a review of its privacy policy, it is reasonable to assume that the ring poses little risk to your health data privacy.
It also offers you an option to delete your data from its system, which leaves nothing for anyone to extract.
Oura CEO's words add further reassurance:
Your data is your data, and if someone is going to try and get it from us, then we're going to tell you first.
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