Wearables, Whistleblowers & a Resignation We Did Not Plan For

Wearables, Whistleblowers & a Resignation We Did Not Plan For

From Healthtech Pigeon by SomX

May 17, 2026 · 37 min · Episode 188

About this episode

Jess and James discuss major developments in healthtech, including wearables, data privacy issues, and a recent resignation.

Jess and James are back from a brief hiatus to break down three of the biggest stories shaping healthtech right now. First, Whoop hires its first in-app doctor and Google launches the Fitbit Air - signalling that consumer wearables and primary care are converging faster than anyone expected. They get into what happens when your health data lives across competing ecosystems, the case for portability standards, and a viral TikTok in which a Whoop user catches her boyfriend cheating via Strava kudos. Then: the Palantir saga rumbles on. A leaked memo published by the FT and the Guardian confirms that contractors were granted access to identifiable patient data on the Federated Data Platform before pseudonymisation. James and Jess disagree - loudly - on how to read it. Finally, Berlin-based Ditto raises €7.6M from Heal Capital to build the patient-side equivalent of an ambient AI scribe: record your appointment, get a plain-language summary, share it with the people who matter. Plus a kicker: Wes Streeting resigned as we were recording. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jess, James

Topics covered

  • wearables
  • health data
  • patient privacy
  • AI in healthcare
  • healthtech news

Keywords

  • healthtech
  • wearables
  • data privacy
  • AI scribe
  • Strava
  • Whoop
  • Fitbit
  • Palantir
  • Ditto

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Whoop, Google, Palantir, FT, Guardian, Ditto, Heal Capital

Products: Fitbit Air

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