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Danish woman invalidates insurance after sharing run on social media

The running app Endomondo has cost a Danish woman insurance payouts covering her inability to work on health grounds.

Danish woman invalidates insurance after sharing run on social media
Photo: lko-images/Depositphotos

The woman's insurance company, AP Pension, used the woman's profile from the app to prove that she did not qualify for full cover, trade union 3F writes on its website.

She had received 200,000 kroner (27,000 euros) annually since 2008 for reduced ability to work caused by a whiplash injury sustained in 2007, according to the report.

But AP Pension were reportedly given a tip-off in 2015, resulting in an investigation that included scrutiny of her activity on social media.

This showed that the woman was member of a sports association and had taken part in sporting events.

The insurance firm also gained access to the woman's profile on popular fitness app Endomondo, where users can share stats from their training sessions.

The woman's profile reportedly showed photographs and running times registered from her training.

“It is in everyone's interests to prevent insurance fraud. But it is concerning that information from a running app can be used in such a case as this.

“It is important for companies to have correct ethical practices, including when they are investigating potential fraudsters. I assume that the woman's Endomondo profile was public. Otherwise it is concerning how they may have obtained this data,” Anette Høyrup, a senior legal advisor with consumer organisation Forbrugerrådet Tænk, said to 3F.

“It shows how necessary it is to think about where we share our private data,” Høyrup added.

AP Pension initially withdrew the woman's payments in their entirety, but have since been ordered by the Insurance Appeals Board (Ankenævnet for Forsikring) to pay 50 percent of the amount she previously received.

READ ALSO: Facebook to build new data centre in Denmark

FACEBOOK

Denmark proposes new law to make Facebook pay for news and music

The government is to forward a bill on Friday proposing tech giants such as Facebook and Google pay Danish media for using content on their platforms.

Denmark proposes new law to make Facebook pay for news and music
File photo: Regis Duvignau/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

The proposal will also mean platforms used to share media, such as YouTube, will be required to make agreements with rights holders in order to display videos or music, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.

A comparable law recently took effect in Australia, resulting in all news pages being temporarily blocked for Facebook users in the southern hemisphere country.

READ ALSO: Could Denmark force Facebook to pay for news content?

“The media plays a central role in our democracy and ensures that public debate takes place on an infrormed basis,”culture minister Joy Mogensen said in the statement.

“If the media are to be able to continue making journalism, they should of course be paid for its use,” she added.

The proposal will provide for rights holders such as musicians or media outlets to be given a new publishing right which will enable them to decide who can use their content.

As such, companies like Facebook and Google will need permission to use the content online.

The Danish proposal builds on an EU directive which gives individual media outlets the right to agree deals with tech giants.

The bill put forward by Mogensen will allow Danish media to make a collective agreement with the tech companies providing for payment when their content is used.

An interest organisation for Danish media companies has backed the proposal.

“We have wanted to be able to enter collective agreements with tech giants because that would strengthen the media companies’ position,” Louise Brincker, CEO of Danske Medier, told newspaper Berlingske. Brincker noted she had not yet read the full proposal.

Media will not be obliged to make agreements with the tech companies, however. Complaints to the Danish copyright board, Ophavsretslicensnævnet, will be possible under the new law, should it be passed by parliament.

The bill will become law on June 7th should it receive the backing of a parliamentary majority.

Both Facebook and Google decline to comment to Berlingske on the matter, stating they had yet to see the bill in full.

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