Samsung will delete your health data if you don't let them use it to train AI

Users are calling Samsung’s health-data ultimatum creepy, reckless, and maybe illegal

TLDR: Samsung Health users say they must allow their personal health info to help train AI or lose syncing and possibly their saved data. Commenters are split between outrage, legal speculation, skepticism about the wording, and jokes that deleting the data might actually be the least bad option.

Samsung tried to roll out shiny new AI-powered health features, and the comments instantly turned into a full-blown trust crisis. The big flashpoint: users say the Samsung Health app now tells them that if they refuse to let their health data be used for AI training, they can’t sync it to their Samsung account and it may be deleted. That includes deeply personal categories like sleep, medications, medical records, and cycle tracking. Oh, and Samsung says some of that data may be reviewed by actual humans, which only made the thread even spicier.

The reaction was a mix of outrage, suspicion, and dark comedy. One commenter wondered if Europe would “turbo obliterate” Samsung over this, which basically became the thread’s battle cry. Another skipped the legal drama and went straight for the vibe check: don’t trust them with your health data anyway. That blunt take captured the mood perfectly — less “wow, cool features” and more “why does my watch suddenly sound like a data vacuum?”

But not everyone was fully convinced the story was exactly as dire as it sounds. One skeptical voice asked whether people might be confusing this with a different consent screen, adding a little wait, are we sure? energy to the pile-on. And then came the funniest twist: one user joked this might actually be the best of both worlds — no AI training and no endless “zombie data retention.” In other words, Samsung launched a health upgrade, and the community responded with panic, side-eye, legal threats, and memes about data disappearing into the void.

Key Points

  • Neowin reports that Samsung Health now includes a consent toggle for using health data in AI training and modelling.
  • According to the article, withdrawing consent disables syncing health data with a Samsung account and can result in deletion of stored health data unless retention is legally required.
  • Samsung says the data will be used to improve Samsung Health through machine learning algorithms that analyze health conditions.
  • The article says the data categories involved include sleep, medications, medical records, and cycle tracking details, and that some data may be reviewed by humans.
  • Samsung Health's recent Generative AI update includes features such as Vitals, Heart Health Score, Cardio Load, and Fitness Index ahead of Galaxy Watch 9 and One UI 9 Watch.

Hottest takes

"turbo obliterated in europe" — datadrivenangel
"You shouldn't trust them with your health data anyway" — josefritzishere
"the best of both worlds" — kelseyfrog
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