Oura CEO Tom Hale publicly addressed what he termed "misinformation" surrounding the company's data sharing practices with the Department of Defense (DoD) and its relationship with data miner Palantir. Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference on Monday, Hale denied allegations of sharing user data with the government.
Hale reiterated that Oura's involvement in a DoD program requires its enterprise solution to operate within a separate, secure environment, stating, "The government does not have access to users' Oura health data." He affirmed, "For the record, we will never share your data with anyone unless you direct us to do it. We will never sell your data to anyone ever," and characterized reports of data sharing with the U.S. government as "simply not true."
Regarding Palantir, Hale clarified that describing the relationship as a "partnership" was "a bit of a strong sell." He explained that Oura acquired a company last year with an existing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) contract with Palantir. This commercial arrangement, related to Impact Level 5 (IL5), a DoD certification for sensitive, unclassified data, does not connect systems, Hale stated. He emphasized that neither Palantir nor the government has access to Oura user data, calling the perception of a "massive partnership" "totally overblown."
Hale underscored the importance of user data privacy and security. He noted that Oura's terms of service oppose any efforts to use user data for surveillance or prosecution. Data transmitted between the Oura App and Oura Cloud is encrypted using TLS 1.2, although it is not end-to-end encrypted.
Looking ahead, Hale observed that ring wearables doubled in size, despite growth in smaller wrist-borne devices in markets like Asia and India. Oura is experiencing growth "north of 100%," positioning itself as a "preventionist" health device offering insights and leveraging machine intelligence. The company also indicated future government collaborations, citing a partnership with Medicare Advantage to provide rings to eligible patients. Hale suggested a future "cloud of wearables," implying a range of devices for diverse clinical applications.
