Tech’s Hidden Costs

While technology enables seniors’ independence, their personal data may pay the price

Fact checked by Jim Lacy

For 45 years, Mark Woolsey worked as a radio journalist, disc jockey, and Weather Channel meteorologist. He remembers the shift from splicing audio tape with an X-Acto knife to editing digitally. Despite a career of adapting to new tools, the 72-year-old Marietta, Georgia, resident now feels more hesitant about technology.

“I’ve found that I’ve become, not really fearful of new tech, but it seems like change, after change, after change happens,” Woolsey says. “It’s unfamiliar, and a lot of times there are multiple steps.”

That learning curve, coupled with uncertainty about which tools will last, keeps Woolsey from fully embracing new technology. 

“I’m just more resistant about new stuff as I get older, pretty much across the board,” Woolsey says. “There are just a bunch of factors — physical and sociological — that restrict you as you get older. I get kind of annoyed, like, ‘Okay, here’s something else that you need to learn.’”

Despite the discomfort that many older Americans feel, on the whole they’re more open than ever to technology. By 2030, Americans over age 50 will spend an estimated $120 billion a year on tech, according to a recent AARP survey.  AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative already has connected more than 200 startups with investors, industry leaders, and testing sites to launch products that “improve people’s lives as they age.”

In Illinois, Tony LaPalio spends his days empowering older adults to adopt more technology in their everyday lives. When he started his company, Senior Tech Support, he taught them how to use smartphones and streaming devices or how to set up home security systems. But as technology evolves, LaPalio says it’s opening new possibilities, extending the number of years people can live independently at home.  

Most adults want to remain at home as they age, and new digital tools are making that goal safer and more manageable. Smart sensors and wearable devices can already monitor vital signs, detect falls, and alert caregivers and emergency responders. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can provide virtual companionship and analyze data to flag potential medical concerns and predict future risks. 

But what happens to all the data these devices collect?

Woolsey says he hasn’t thought much about what his smartwatch does with his health data. “Somebody hacking into my email or something like that — that’s really scary,” he says. “Scams worry me more.”

Chicago attorney Jason Lundy, who represents many long-term care facilities, says he hasn’t seen widespread adoption of these technologies in the facilities he works with because they’re still too costly. But many are receiving sales pitches from startups aiming to capture a share of what promises to be a massive industry. For now, he says, the market is fragmented: One company might sell a device, another makes sensors, and another develops the software that collects the data. 

Lundy says he worries about what happens to consumers’ personal data if one of these companies goes under. 

“If the bankruptcy estate says that’s an asset, they could sell your data to someone you never authorized,” he says. “What happens to the data that’s in their server after they decide ‘we can’t do this anymore’?”  

“This data is getting to data brokers and helping companies build profiles on you — and that profile can enable targeting to you.”

Lundy says he’s seeing more adoption of remote patient monitoring tools among individuals in independent and assisted living — and that’s where privacy rights get murky. 

When healthcare companies or long-term care facilities adopt a digital tool, they’re subject to the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. But HIPAA doesn’t apply to wearable devices, sensors, or health apps unless a physician prescribes them. These products typically operate under their own privacy policies, which often allow data sharing unless users opt out.  

That’s why privacy advocates stress reading user agreements and periodically checking device settings. Emory Roane, an attorney with the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, cautions consumers not to assume privacy just because a product claims to be HIPAA compliant.

“HIPAA compliant isn’t the same thing as HIPAA covered,” he says. If a product isn’t covered by HIPAA, violations don’t carry the same legal recourse. 

Roane notes that HIPAA sets a minimum privacy standard, assuming states would regulate further. Few have. California and Washington are notable exceptions; Illinois is not. “That’s an enormous problem,” he says, especially because most people use a patchwork of apps and devices that create “gaping seams” where data can leak. 

While a scammer knowing an individual’s heart-rate patterns may not sound alarming, the concern is profiling. 

“This data is getting to data brokers and helping companies build profiles on you — and that profile can enable targeting to you,” Roane says — and not just for ads. 

“There are hundreds of ways to classify elderly populations and sell them to advertisers and criminals, frankly,” he says. “They are deep wells to draw from if you’re interested in finding vulnerable populations to scam.”

For example, someone with access to sensitive medical details could impersonate a provider’s office, making an older adult more likely to share financial information.

Roane and his organization support a federal statute regulating data brokers that requires transparency, data deletion, and enforcement. He helped draft and pass the California Delete Act, which gives residents the right to delete and opt out of the collection and sale of their personal information by registered data brokers. 

He says there’s no reason other states or the federal government couldn’t do the same. 

Cybersecurity risks

In the meantime, a lack of regulation, a patchwork of companies, and sheer volumes of data create a perfect storm of concerns.

LaPalio tells his customers to be aware and vigilant, but not to panic.

“Unfortunately, in this day and age, people have to understand that no digital information is safe,” he says. “We’re carrying these things around with us in our pockets and in our purses that are potentially tracking every movement and listening to our conversations.”

Even the most secure systems can be breached. “Major companies get hacked. AT&T gets hacked. Hundreds of millions of social security numbers get leaked,” he says. “If the government gets hacked — and they spend billions of dollars a year trying to protect our most sensitive documents in the United States — the average consumer has no hope.” 

Still, the benefits are real. 

“A lot of this technology can help people maintain their independence longer,” LaPalio says.  “They can [age in place] with some of this assistive technology, and that’s incredible.”

Another upside? Supporters say these tools can ease caregivers’ burdens. For example, smartwatches can automate reminders, monitor vital signs, and send real-time alerts. 

Loss of human connection

While technology offers many promises, some people fear that its use could reduce human connection. That was a concern for caretaker Victoria Kowalska when the Schaumburg-area Home Instead agency she worked with at the time introduced a new AI monitoring system.

“At first, I was really skeptical,” she says. “There’s a lot of fear around [AI]. It’s a new technology, and I thought, ‘How the heck are seniors going to allow this in their homes?’”   

But after using the tools, she saw their value. When one client fell, the device’s sensor pods detected the sound and alerted the care team. The pods also helped identify early signs of urinary tract infections by logging increased bathroom visits. 

Kowalska says the technology can help when someone needs 24-hour care but can’t afford it — a supplement, not a replacement. Because even with the most advanced tools, she says, nothing can care for a human quite as effectively as another human. 

“With older folks who are set in their ways, they’re less likely — more hesitant — to embrace tech,” Woolsey says. That personal connection matters most, he adds, “My older daughter is my tech support.” She stops by her parents’ house occasionally to troubleshoot any tech issues they’re experiencing — and whether she realizes it or not, to connect human-to-human.

Originally published in the Winter/Spring 2026 print issue.