A new Apple job posting has the company seeking out a lawyer with expertise in health, sparking suggestions that it could be another indication Apple has greater aspirations in the areas of health monitoring, fitness, and medical purposes, notes
Business Insider. Specifically, the job summary shows that the company wants a new Privacy Counsel with experience working with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and with the health industry at large. The successful applicant would provide legal advice on privacy issues potentially impacting the company's products, as well as its other business activities.
"As Privacy Counsel, you will have the opportunity to work with a dynamic and experienced team on privacy issues impacting Apple's business and products across the globe," the
job post states. "You will work directly with business and engineering teams to design innovative privacy solutions for products, as well as across the legal department on Apple activities and regulatory issues." The post also highlights the importance of respecting consumer security and privacy as being something inherent in making great products.
In the position description, the successful application with work with "key members" of Apple's business, engineering, and legal teams on projects including: privacy by design reviews and projects; assisting with privacy complaints and breaches; supporting compliance and auditing frameworks; advising on privacy aspects of licensing and procurement deals and corporate acquisitions, and assisting with the drafting of policies and procedures surrounding privacy laws.
Apple has
made a play for tracking and monitoring customer health, but to date its Apple Watch and iPhone only monitor health tracking in a relatively general way, thus avoiding FDA requirements that
might otherwise require the devices to fall under any sort of regulatory framework. Apple executives have previously stated that this is path that they would rather avoid, as meeting FDA requirements for products like the Apple Watch can be both costly and time-consuming, potentially affecting its plans for product launches.
However, at the same time, Apple's HealthKit, CareKit, and ResearchKit initiatives require the confidential handling and maintenance of user data, and thus prompt privacy considerations. As Apple continues to develop these aspects of its devices, it is quite plausible that the Privacy Counsel job could play an important role in the possible ongoing monitoring and potential expansion these platforms. Whether or not the job posting is concerned with the development of more specifically-focused health tracking devices, or potential features on an Apple Watch, can only be speculated.
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