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Posts tagged: Privacy

13 posts found

A pile of obsolete technology and electronic waste in a dimly lit storage space. The physical remnants of devices that outlived their cloud backends.
PrivacyData OwnershipLocal First

What Happens to Your Health Data When the Company Dies

When Intel shut down Basis in 2016, the devices did not break. The servers did. The cloud model turns your health history into a loan, and the company owns the vault. Pulsyn stores everything on your phone because your phone is the only hardware you actually own.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
Jun 7, 2026 13 min read
A digital privacy concept image showing data security and protection themes
HipaaFtcLegislation

Your Wearable Data Isn't Covered by HIPAA. The FTC, Congress, and 20 States Are Trying to Fix That.

Your fitness tracker data is not protected by HIPAA. The FTC, Congress, and 20 states are trying to fix that, but legislation only regulates what companies can do with data they already possess. Pulsyn removes the server entirely.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
Jun 5, 2026 11 min read
A smartphone screen showing a minimal dark interface without login forms or password fields
PrivacyData OwnershipLocal First

How Pulsyn Works Without a Login Screen

Most health apps start with a login form because their business model requires your email before their product requires your data. Pulsyn starts with a heart rate graph because the app stores everything locally on your phone and has nothing to authenticate against.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
Jun 4, 2026 11 min read
Abstract digital privacy visualization representing encrypted health data that never leaves your device
PrivacyReproductive HealthData Ownership

Your Fertility Data Is Evidence Now

In a post-Dobbs United States, fertility data from wearables has entered criminal prosecutions. Oura stores cycle data on AWS. Whoop stores it on their own servers. Pulsyn stores it on your phone, encrypted, with no cloud account.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
May 27, 2026 13 min read
A gavel resting on a courtroom bench, representing how digital health data from fitness trackers is now routinely admitted as evidence in legal proceedings
PrivacyLegalHealth Data

Your Fitness Tracker Is Evidence: How Health Data Ends Up in Courtrooms and Divorce Filings

Your fitness tracker records everything. That data lives on someone else's server, and in at least one murder trial, it was the evidence that convicted the killer. Here's how health data ends up in courtrooms, divorce filings, and subpoenas — and why Pulsyn's local-first architecture makes the difference.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
May 26, 2026 13 min read
A close-up of a smartphone processor chip, the same hardware that runs Pulsyn's on-device health AI without ever sending your biometrics to a server
On Device AiPrivacyHealth Ai

How On-Device AI Actually Works: Why Your Health Data Never Leaves Your Phone

On-device AI means your health data never leaves your phone. Here is the architecture, the constraints, and why it makes subscriptions unnecessary.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
May 25, 2026 13 min read
A dark metallic smart ring on a textured surface, representing the last independent hardware in an industry racing toward subscriptions
SubscriptionWearablesConsumer Rights

The No-Subscription Smart Ring Is Not Dead. The Industry Just Wants You to Think So.

Oura filed for IPO. RingConn got pulled from Amazon. Ultrahuman and Luna are banned in the US. A Reddit user asked if the no-subscription smart ring dream is dead. It is not. But the remaining options are smaller, founder-led, and built on economics that venture capital hates.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
May 25, 2026 11 min read
A digital lock concept representing how wearable companies trap user health data behind proprietary APIs and subscriptions
ApiData PortabilitySubscription

The API Trap: How Wearable Companies Make Your Health Data Disappear When You Cancel

Most wearable APIs are not built for you. They are built for partners who build features that keep you subscribed. Here is how the data lock-in actually works, and how Pulsyn does the opposite.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
May 24, 2026 13 min read
View through an airplane window at night, representing the disconnected environments where most health trackers fail but Pulsyn keeps working
Offline FirstLocal FirstArchitecture

Your Sleep Tracker Should Work on a Plane. Ours Does.

Most health trackers treat your phone as a dumb pipe to their cloud. When you turn on airplane mode, the app becomes a brick. Pulsyn's architecture assumes the opposite: your phone is the computer, the database lives locally, and the cloud is an optional extra.

James Hoffmann James Hoffmann
May 23, 2026 13 min read