(Photo credit: Robert Nelson/Flickr)
As more and more people focus on their health with devices that help them track their progress, this brings up questions about whether this information can be used in a personal injury claim.
A Calgary personal injury law firm will set precedence as the first personal injury case where the data from a Fitbit tracker will be used to show an accident’s effects on their client’s lifestyle, according to Forbes.
“Till now we’ve always had to rely on clinical interpretation,” Simon Muller of McLeod Law firm in Calgary told Forbes. “Now we’re looking at longer periods of time though the course of a day, and we have hard data.”
Four years ago, their client, a personal trainer, was injured in a motor vehicle accident when her car was rear-ended, according to Metro News. Since damage to her car wasn’t extensive, the lawyers hope the device’s data will show that “her activity levels are now under a baseline for someone of her age and profession.”
The data from the Fitbit will be entered into a platform created by Calgary startup Vivametrica, which takes publically available data from smartphones and fitness devices, and then provides a general baseline of health activity, according to Metro News.
The personal injury law firm already has plans to potentially use a similar method of tracking data in other cases, according to Forbes.
While the data will be used as evidence to assist the client, it remains to be seen whether this data could be used by insurance companies and privacy concerns will likely arise with these devices. Technology companies are focusing their efforts towards creating wearable devices that track more than simply the number of steps you take. Apps are being created to track your sleeping patterns, heart rate, weight and blood pressure.
A recent column published in Claims Canada discusses the case where a plaintiff’s metadata was acquired by the defendants to show the time spent by the plaintiff in front of his computer. In the appeal of a personal injury case in Nova Scotia, the plaintiff claimed the injuries from an accident he was in affected the amount of time he could sit in front of a computer, which affected his income since he ran an Internet-based business. The court approved the motion, as long as the data retrieved was only related to the plaintiff’s computer; they were denied access to the plaintiff’s computer files and websites the plaintiff visited.
Privacy is becoming a greater concern with technology offering more detailed insight into our lives. St. Michael’s Hospital is testing an OR “black box” as a way to learn from mistakes, but it remains to be seen whether personal injury lawyers will be allowed to use this information in medical malpractice claims.
Social media may also be used in courtrooms, but it’s also debatable about whether combing through what’s displayed is relevant to the case.
The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have over 45 years of experience. We know how to fight your case. Set up a free consultation and come talk to us. Call us at 416-920-4242.
Greg Neinstein
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