The hunger for data knows no bounds. Your location history, browsing data, and communications aren’t enough to satisfy the surveillance economy. Tech companies now seek data from your mind and body.
The hunger for data knows no bounds. Your location history, browsing data, and communications aren’t enough to satisfy the surveillance economy. Tech companies now seek data from your mind and body.
The parable of the Greek king Erysichthon comes to mind. Erysichthon was a greedy and powerful ruler focused on expanding his empire. In the search for lumber to build a grand feasting hall, he ventured into a grove of sacred trees belonging to the Goddess Demeter.
Ignoring the hesitation of his people who revered the sacred site, and defying warnings from the Gods, Erysichthon chopped down the sacred grove.
Demeter, outraged by his disrespect to the divine connection between nature and man, cursed him with the spirit of insatiable hunger. The more he ate – the stronger his hunger became.
Erysichthon tried to satisfy his appetite. He obsessively bought food from all over the world and spent all his time eating. Eventually he depleted his fortune, sold off his possessions, sold his daughter for crumbs, and ended his life with one final meal – his own withering body.
Just as Erysichthon was consumed by hunger, today’s tech companies are driven by an insatiable desire for data. And our bodies are the next frontier.
Fortunes are being spent on building the devices and infrastructure that will track our biological signals. In the next few years bio-sensors will be small enough to be easily worn and gather a wide range of data.
This article is your official invitation to join the “Internet of Bodies” or to reject it completely. We’ll cover the history of IoB, the latest development in bio-sensors, how tech companies are driving the IoB agenda forward, and how it will make its way into your life.
Teebot wants you to follow us on these alternative social platforms:
Substack
Telegram Channel
Telegram Discussion
XMPP Group
Odysee
The Internet of Bodies
The term “Internet of Bodies” (IoB) was coined by the RAND Corporation, a highly-influential U.S think tank founded in 1948.
After World War II, RAND redirected military minds towards defense research, shaping policies around nuclear weapons, defense strategy, satellites technology, and beyond. Today RAND research branches out to health, education, and societal research.
RAND Corporation always seemed to be ahead of the curve, releasing research reports that anticipated and informed the development of world-changing technology like satellites, distributed networks (the Internet), and artificial intelligence.
In the 2020 report, titled “The Internet Of Bodies”, RAND researchers predicted the future will be full of internet-connected medical devices tracking our health data in real time.
Is this prediction coming from out of nowhere, or is RAND telegraphing an upcoming shift within the technology industry?
“It is challenging to identify an important national policy issue during the past 50 years that RAND did not play a role in resolving,” – David Jardini 2013
RAND researchers classified IoB devices as devices that:
- Contained software or computing capabilities
- Communicated with the internet
- Collected person-generated health or biometric data OR
- could alter the human body’s function
Every IoB device conducts biosurveillance: continuously collecting health data, broadcasting it remotely to analyze behaviors, and intervening as needed.
The illustrated examples in the IoB report are harebrained as they appear, like the bluetooth-connected diaper. The Internet of Bodies expects you to pay more attention to the diaper notifications on your phone rather than hearing your childs cries, or smelling the odor of their distress.
Some notable examples include:
- Implantable microchips that contain your personal or identification information.
- Wearable health trackers that track your heart rate, sleep patterns, and physical data
- Mental and emotional sensors designed to detect how you’re feeling by analyzing your expression and voice.
- Wearable neuro-devices that monitor your brain and stimulate the brain through electrical signals.
- Attention monitoring that tracks your brain activity and eye movements.
Sound like sci-fi? The truth is, this tech may be a lot closer than you think.
In this report, RAND Corporation has a few sections dedicated to risk. They cover malfunctions and the potential of having IoB devices attacked by hackers. However, electromagnetic radiation and its risks are not addressed at all, despite thousands of studies showing their harmful impact on living things and growing public awareness of EMF harms. Not to mention the risks of devices leeching metals, plastics, and other toxins into your body. We have more than enough of these toxins in our bodies already.
All these risks far outweigh the trivial and laughable health or lifestyle “benefits” these devices are supposed to bring.
To be fair, there are cases where medical devices and technology can provide important functions for users. Pacemakers, for example, are one such technology. However, they don’t fall under IoB since they don’t connect directly to the internet; instead, they use medical-grade frequencies (like 400 MHz) to communicate with an in-house unit, which then connects to a hospital over the internet. Some pacemakers even adjust based on detected activity—all of this happens on the device itself.
Pacemakers essentially prove that we don’t need IoB technology for critical health devices. Medical devices for at-risk individuals can work without needing a direct internet connection or remote data processing.
It’s also telling that no pacemaker uses traditional wireless channels like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Its almost as if it could… damage the heart.
In extreme cases, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) could help those who are unable to use their body or communicate through speaking. For example, an prosthetic controlled by the mind could improve the lives of amputees.
Another area where bio-sensors could be useful is the bio-hacking movement. These individuals optimize for personal development and want to quantify things like sleep quality.
These don’t necessarily have to be classified as ‘IoB’ and could be designed to store health data on the device, and calculate health / sleep scores locally. In past years, products like the Aura Ring (Smart Ring) were able to be used offline and without a subscription. Over time its become impossible to use these smart devices without uploading your health data into the cloud.
There are specific use cases for biosensors, however if we don’t stay vigilant these solutions could outsource our regular bodily functions to the Internet of Bodies.
Oops, I got a poop alert, I better go to the bathroom. Oh no, I’m hitting my depression baseline – its time for another Soma.
To pretend that an emotional sensor could give you more valuable feedback than listening to your own heart is anti-human.
The Internet of Bodies; simultaneously a cheap gimmick and exorbitantly costly to develop – disconnects you from divine technology: your body and mind—far more sensitive, powerful, and wise than any bio-sensor out there.
The push for IoB is not meant to improve our health; it’s a way to conduct massive data collection and “hack” the human experience, as Yuval Noah Harari has said. Once IoB devices become widespread, they can be used as tools of control—“smart” enough to capture your thoughts or feelings and influence how you act.
“Just imagine North Korea in 20 years where everybody has to wear a biometric bracelet, which constantly monitors your blood pressure, your heart rate, your brain activity 24 hours a day.
“You listen to a speech on the radio by the ‘Great Leader,’ and they know what you actually feel — you can clap your hands and smile, but if you’re angry, they know you’ll be in the gulag tomorrow morning” — Yuval Harari, WEF, 2020
We’ve explored how RAND Corporation created the framework for the Internet of Bodies, let’s see how big tech companies drive it forward.
Apple’s Health Studies
In early February 2025 Apple announced its Apple Health Study, which aims to study… pretty much everything about you. The research will be conducted through Apple’s research app, which sends participants surveys and collect ongoing data through the bio-sensors in iPhones, Apple Watches’ and AirPods.
From Apple’s blog: The study spans a number of health and disease areas, including activity, aging, cardiovascular health, circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual health, mental health, metabolic health, mobility, neurologic health, respiratory health, sleep, and more.
Rather than focusing on a single topic, Apple is taking a broad approach: gather as much data as possible, figure out the questions later. A screenshot from Health Data permissions show the wide range of health data that could potentially be gathered.
Because your Apple products are always with you, data can be collected regularly over a long period of time in longitudinal studies, that don’t necessarily have an end date.
In previous studies, such as the 2019 Apple Heart Study with Stanford Medicine, the Apple Watch measured the heartbeats of 400,000 people to detect irregular heart rhythms. Out of the participants, 0.5% received an irregular heartbeat warning and were offered a free telehealth consultation. Its unclear how many took Apple up on the offer.
The Apple watch has multiple sensors that can measure your heartbeat: an optical sensor that works in the background, and an ECG sensor that can be activated for an on-demand heartbeat test.
In a more personal 2024 study, Apple tracked womens’ menstrual cycles to gather info on gynelogical conditions.
These studies can be designed to automatically connect bio-sensor data, and request personal information through questionnaires. You need to explicitly consent to join these studies, and with 130M US Apple users, the amount of data could be staggering.
How does Apple treat your health data? The Apple Research App Privacy Policy & Apple Health Study Apps Privacy Policy have some big red flags. Although the data is encrypted on your device and on Apple’s servers, Apple has complete control over your health data.
In the Research App, Apple gather’s basic contact and demographic info like your birthdate, name, phone number. This is required to enroll in a study. Apple emphasizes they don’t have access to your contact information or full date of birth. Yet its trvial for Apple to get that information through your iCloud account or from usage of their products.
They also gather health information: This information may include information such as your health records, activity, body measurements, vitals, medications, mental wellbeing, mobility, nutrition, sleep, respiratory, symptoms, and reproductive health information such as menstrual cycle length and related symptoms.
Additionally demographic information, and the sensor and usage data are gathered. The sensor data is only available to studies that meet study requirements. But of course, Apple is the arbiter of who gets this data.
When it comes to specific studies like the Apple Health Study, we see that Apple has other plans for your data. We’re reminded that the goal of the study is vague and nebulous, and seems to collect data from all spheres in order to find trends.
Apple will also use this data to “develop health-related products and improvement activities” and to “issue research findings and related reports”.
Apple has free reign to study this data in order to improve their bio-sensors and develop health products.
Apple also is also able to provide your personal information and coded study data to:
- Government and Regulatory Authorities, U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and other federal or state governement agencies.
- Law enforcement or other third parties, such as subpoena, litigation, or court order. Or for issues of national security, or public importance.
- Other approved study researchers.
- And “Others” if they deem it necessary
This opens the door to government enabled health monitoring, and now the RAND Corporation’s vision starts to make more sense.
Do particpants of Apple’s health studies know that that they may have their health and personal information shared with government health agencies?
On one wrist, democratized data-driven healthcare sounds like a good thing. On the other wrist, a constant stream of health and lifestyle data transmitted to Apple and government agencies sounds like a privacy nightmare.
Secret “Moonshot” Health Projects
Apple’s is known for its top-secret health monitoring projects. These projects are often deemed impossible to execute and are referred to as “Moonshot” initiatives.
These initiatives are headed by Apple’s most elite teams and kept under Manhattan Project-esque levels of secrecy to gain an advantage over competitors.
One well-known project is their non-invasive blood glucose monitor for diabetics. This technology would allow people to check their blood sugar levels without the need to prick their fingers.
Many companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung have all been racing to develop this technology – which would become an obvious choice for diabetics in the US, one out of every 10 persons.
Bloomberg learned about the project from anonymous sources within Apple. The project was developed over 12 years and hundreds of millions of dollars were spent developing the non-invasive technology.
Instead of measuring the blood directly, Apple’s idea was to use silicon photonics. This method would shine light off of your tissue fluid, the liquid outside of your blood cells and attempt to calculate the concentration of glucose. Apple invested hundreds of millions in outside companies like UK Based Rockley Photonics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) to develop the silicon photonic chips and sensors.
This project was so secret, it was housed under a cover company, a small startup with no ties to Apple – including a separate office, branding, keycards – the works. It was eventually taken over by Apple’s elite Exploratory Design Group.
If successful in their efforts, Apple watch would become the obvious choice for diabetics, making a massive impact and profits to match.
iBrain Coming Soon
Apple made waves last year with their AirPods Pro 2, which along with the iPhone could test a user’s hearing and make adjustments to to environmental noise. Apple is gearing up to get the AirPods official medical status as a hearing aids, pending approval from the FDA.
Users of the AirPods can already test their hearing, and Apple added these tests as a data point within their Apple Health Study. What will they measure next? Could it be your brainwaves?
In 2023, Apple filed patents for the next generation of AirPods which could measure brains signals.
These new airpods are over-loaded with different electrodes, the device dynamically chooses which electrodes to use based on their contact with the skin.
The collection of sensors in the patent include Electrocardiograms for measuring heart activity, Electroencephalograms for measuring brainwaves, Electromodulogram for measuring muscle activation, Electrooculograms for measuring eye movements.
These sensors could play a role in developing a brain-computer interface, or a computer controlled by your brain.
They could also play a part in visualizing your thoughts.
No Brain Privacy
The inner sanctum of our mind gives us the freedom to think and explore our thoughts with complete privacy. New technology is breaking this brain barrier.
Meta’s FAIR lab (Meta Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research) made a breakthrough in early February 2025 in collaboration with the Spanish Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language.
Meta used MEG and EEG to measure the neuronal activity as volunteers typed a series of sentences, taking a 1,000 snapshots of the brain every second. Their new AI model Brain2Qwerty was trained on this stream of data.
The AI was then able to decode brainwaves typing sentences outside of the pre-trained sentences with an character-error-rate of 32%. The same type of sensors used in these studies are being developed for mass production and included in wearable devices.
Its clear that brain directed technology is coming and could be packaged as a way to improve your mental health, or have a direct connection between your mind and your technology. But at what cost?
Conclusion
Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of the Biosurveillance industry. Apple announced in late February 2025, it will spend $500B over the next four years to build data centers, AI control centers, and silicon manufacturing centers in 12 states across the US.
They will need data centers to store huge amounts of health information and to process it. They will need manufacturing centers to produce components for the Biosensors.
These consumer devices will continue to become more available, and bio-surveillance made more trendy.
Do not fall for the trends. We can now clearly see the pathway to how biosurveillance could lead to government surveillance of our minds and bodies.
Its up to you as a co-creator, not just a consumer – to reject these harmful bio-surveillance products and prevent them from training on our brains, hearts, and bodies.
Corporations and governments threaten to hack humanity as a whole, we must reconnect and reprogram to the most powerful biocomputer ever created, before it’s too late.
