Activision Blizzard Pays Their Employees to Use a Pregnancy Tracking App

What does your privacy mean to you? If there was a dollar value for it, what would it be? A recent report reveals Activision-Blizzard is paying their employees for access to their daily pregnancy and health information.

The story began with a post in the Washington Post, reported on by Brendan Sinclair. In it, they explain that the game company has been incentivizing their employees to use Ovia, a pregnancy tracking app, as well as compensating staff using Fitbit activity trackers.

The health tracking program has been in the works since 2014 and has since expanded to include information like mental health, sleep habits, and diet. Activision-Blizzard VP of global benefits Milt Ezzard spoke with Washington Post about the idea, explaining that it's not as insidious as it sounds.

"Each time we introduced something, there was a bit of an outcry: 'You're prying into our lives.' But we slowly increased the sensitivity of stuff, and eventually people understood it's all voluntary, there's no gun to your head, and we're going to reward you if you choose to do it."

The compensation varies by program. For Ovia, Activision Blizzard offers gift cards at a rate of $1 a day (so $365 a year) for their participation. The company claims that the data is anonymized, but can include info as detailed as diet, sexual intercourse logging, and pregnancy complications. Activision Blizzard believes that by using the app, their staff will be less likely to experience issues with their pregnancy, and in turn, reducing medical insurance rates and ensuring steady employment.

"I want them to have a healthy baby because it's great for our business experience. Rather than having a baby who's in the neonatal ICU, where she's not able to focus much on work."

It's certainly a strange program. Let us know how you feel about it.