Wearable Tech That Could Help You Sleep Better

[00:00:00] Robert Half Research indicates 9 out of 10 hiring managers are having difficulty hiring. Robert Half is here to help. Our recruiting professionals utilize our proprietary AI to connect businesses with highly skilled talent. At Robert Half, we know talent. Visit roberthalf.com today.

[00:00:23] Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Friday, November 1st. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal.

[00:00:29] PayPal will start sharing customer data with retailers. We'll find out how that data could be used and what it means for you.

[00:00:37] And having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? New wearable tech has been in the works and could be your solution. Those stories coming up.

[00:00:52] Starting with PayPal. The payments company plans to start sharing customers' personal data, including information like your pant size, to third-party retailers.

[00:01:03] That's according to a recent privacy update from the company. Here to break this down for us is WSJ personal economics reporter Imani Moise.

[00:01:12] Imani, why is PayPal doing this and why now?

[00:01:16] I think the bigger surprise for me was that they weren't already doing this. I pay closer attention to privacy policies than probably the average consumer.

[00:01:24] And I've noticed that quite a few banks, like if I go through my credit cards, they disclose that they're sharing this type of data.

[00:01:30] Well, not as specific as pant size, but in general, my transaction data, I assume is fair game.

[00:01:35] So why PayPal is doing this now is because they want to get into this market that other financial firms have been a part of, which is the market of sharing your data or selling your data in some cases.

[00:01:45] But in order to do that, they have to disclose it to their customers within 30 days, which is why we're having this kind of advanced period where they're letting you know that they're collecting this starting in November, but they won't actually start sharing it until next summer.

[00:01:59] Do we know how PayPal is using this data?

[00:02:02] When I spoke to the company, they said they're not sure yet how they're going to use the data, whether or not it's going to be an outright sale to marketers or if they're just going to offer it to their retail partners like the merchants on their platform as another perk of using PayPal as their payment processor as opposed to some of their competitors like Square or Stripe.

[00:02:21] You mentioned other financial institutions are already doing something similar.

[00:02:25] What are some of the companies that collect this data and what kind of data are they collecting?

[00:02:30] So according to a government accountability office report from 2020, about a quarter of large banks do collect customer data and they share it with third party advertisers.

[00:02:40] So that would include places like JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America.

[00:02:43] And the way that the disclosure requirements are set, they don't really have to provide that much detail on what type of data they're collecting.

[00:02:51] But some banks go above and beyond.

[00:02:53] So, for example, Citigroup has a fairly long disclosure where they outline things like demographic information, your transaction data, assets in the account.

[00:03:01] All of those kinds of data are fair game when it comes to sharing.

[00:03:04] So you've read PayPal's new policy.

[00:03:06] I have.

[00:03:07] OK, tell us about it.

[00:03:08] What really stuck out to me in the PayPal disclosure was how specific it got.

[00:03:13] Again, the laws that regulate disclosure requirements for financial institutions are pretty vague.

[00:03:18] They were set in 1999.

[00:03:19] So there's definitely a case for updating them.

[00:03:21] But again, these companies don't have to disclose that much detail.

[00:03:25] But PayPal provided a lot of detail about the who and the what.

[00:03:28] So they said they're going to share information like your preferences, the styles you like and even your size.

[00:03:34] Imani, you spoke to privacy advocates.

[00:03:36] What are some concerns they had around this new policy?

[00:03:39] Some privacy advocates warned that the more data is being fed to advertisers, the more power they have to do things like dynamic pricing or to raise or lower prices based on what they think that you're willing to pay, which may not necessarily be fair to the consumer.

[00:03:55] On the flip side, what the financial companies say, like PayPal, they say in exchange for this data, they're actually working to get you a better price.

[00:04:03] So that could be cashback offers or discounts on selected things.

[00:04:06] And is there a way for users to opt out from PayPal's new policy?

[00:04:11] Yes. So whenever a financial firm is sharing your data with third party advertisers, they are required by law to give you a way to opt out.

[00:04:20] In PayPal's case, you can opt out by logging into your account, going into settings, going into data and privacy and selecting personalized shopping and turning that off.

[00:04:29] But it's important to know that if you don't do that, it's on by default.

[00:04:32] So you do have to take that extra step if you want to keep your privacy.

[00:04:34] That was our personal economics reporter, Imani Moise.

[00:04:38] Coming up, researchers are using sound, electricity and light to help you get a better night's rest.

[00:04:46] We'll find out how after the break.

[00:04:55] Robert Half Research indicates nine out of 10 hiring managers are having difficulty hiring.

[00:05:01] Robert Half is here to help.

[00:05:02] Our recruiting professionals utilize our proprietary AI to connect businesses with highly skilled talent.

[00:05:09] At Robert Half, we know talent.

[00:05:11] Visit roberthalf.com today.

[00:05:19] One in three adults in the U.S. report sleep disturbances.

[00:05:23] That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[00:05:26] And by one estimate, 60% of that number, roughly 46 million people, say they have trouble falling asleep.

[00:05:35] Now, new wearable gadgets that target the brain promise to help you fall asleep faster, improve the length and quality of rest, and even help travelers fight jet lag.

[00:05:48] Here to tell us more is our science bureau chief, Joe Craven-McGinty.

[00:05:53] Before we get into the companies, there's been research on brain stimulation that the companies are leveraging to create these new wearable products.

[00:06:02] Tell us more about this research.

[00:06:03] Yes.

[00:06:05] A lot of it is aimed at patients with dementia, but other neurological disorders too.

[00:06:10] And what they have found is that you can stimulate the brain during sleep to improve function.

[00:06:17] For example, with patients with dementia, there are experiments aimed at improving memory.

[00:06:22] One experiment in that vein is a patient will be given pairs of words that are related, such as car and engine.

[00:06:32] They go to sleep.

[00:06:33] Their brain is stimulated during their sleep.

[00:06:36] And the next morning, they're asked to recall those words.

[00:06:39] So they might be given the word car, and the expectation is that they would provide the word engine.

[00:06:45] When they receive the brain stimulation during slow wave sleep, their recollection is stronger.

[00:06:50] Okay, so let's go through some of these companies now, starting with Elamine.

[00:06:54] Elamine makes a headband that is equipped with EEG sensors as well as a tiny little speaker.

[00:07:02] The EEG sensors measure the brain waves of the person wearing the headband.

[00:07:08] And the brain waves are, you've seen this on television shows.

[00:07:13] It's the oscillations on the screen, up and down patterns that indicate the electrical pattern of the brain waves.

[00:07:20] What the Elamine headband does is target those brain waves with audible sound bursts.

[00:07:29] So it sounds a little bit like a sprinkler on your lawn.

[00:07:36] Those sound waves are meant to disrupt the pattern of the brain waves and edge them closer to the frequency of sleep.

[00:07:45] So during the waking hours, your brain waves are oscillating at about 8 to 12 hertz.

[00:07:51] And during slow wave sleep, the deepest phase of sleep, it's about 0.5 to 2 hertz.

[00:07:57] And the idea is if you can disrupt those waking brain wave patterns, it can get you to fall asleep quicker.

[00:08:03] Another company you reported on is called StemScience.

[00:08:06] How does its tech work?

[00:08:08] StemScience does something similar.

[00:08:10] It also uses EEG sensors in a headband.

[00:08:13] But instead of an auditory stimulation, it uses electricity.

[00:08:18] And so it's just 15 minutes of electrical stimulation that feels like a warm, tingling sensation.

[00:08:23] And it's intended to have the same effect of disrupting your brain wave pattern and edge you closer to that slower pattern that's associated with deep sleep.

[00:08:34] And Joe, how effective are these wearable devices?

[00:08:38] Each of the companies have tested their devices.

[00:08:41] And the Elamine device, on average, gets participants to sleep about 10 minutes faster.

[00:08:48] So these are people who have said that it usually takes them 30 minutes or longer to fall asleep.

[00:08:54] And using the headband in the Elamine test, on average, so some fell asleep much more quickly, some less quickly.

[00:09:00] But on average, it was about 10 minutes faster.

[00:09:03] The StemScience device, in its tests, they found that the participants slept longer.

[00:09:10] On average, it was about 20, 22 minutes.

[00:09:13] So the devices that are targeting the general population are pretty new.

[00:09:17] There haven't been any long-term studies yet, but the devices of this sort have been used in sleep labs for a decade or more.

[00:09:25] But researchers do say it's early.

[00:09:28] There's another device you wrote about called Lumos.

[00:09:31] It's used to help travelers fight jet lag.

[00:09:33] Can you tell us more about that?

[00:09:35] Yes.

[00:09:36] So the other two devices I mentioned are headbands.

[00:09:39] Lumos is a sleep mask, and it looks exactly like any sleep mask you've ever seen.

[00:09:43] What it does is deliver flashes of light while you sleep.

[00:09:48] Most people aren't disturbed by this.

[00:09:50] About 5% of people, it does disturb their rest.

[00:09:53] But most people sleep through the flashing light.

[00:09:55] And it transitions your circadian rhythm to the time zone that you are traveling to.

[00:10:02] And how effective is a Lumos device?

[00:10:04] So the maker of Lumos has just finished a study of its device, and they haven't yet published it.

[00:10:12] But what they did find in general is that you can move someone to a new time zone, and this might be for travelers or for shift workers.

[00:10:21] The study most recently is on shift workers, and I believe they tested health care workers that have to work a night shift.

[00:10:28] So it's important for them to be alert, and they reported feeling more rested and more alert when they used the device to transition to that different circadian phase.

[00:10:38] That was WSJ Science Bureau Chief Joe Craven-McGinty.

[00:10:42] And that's it for Tech News Briefing.

[00:10:45] Today's show was produced by me, Julie Chang.

[00:10:47] Additional support this week from Zoe Colkin, Charlotte Gartenberg, and Danny Lewis.

[00:10:52] Jessica Fenton and Michael LaValle wrote our theme music.

[00:10:55] Our supervising producer is Catherine Millsop.

[00:10:58] Our development producer is Aisha Al-Muslim.

[00:11:01] Scott Salloway and Chris Zinsley are the deputy editors, and Falana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of news audio.

[00:11:09] We'll be back this afternoon with TNB Tech Minute.

[00:11:12] Thanks for listening.