How to monetize your thermometer

We have an old-fashioned thermometer—the glass kind with a bead of mercury in it. I think we’ve had it for nearly 60 years. To use it, you must first shake it to be sure the mercury is below a normal temperature, then you stick it under the tongue for… I forget how many minutes. It’s hard to read. You have to angle it just right to see the line of mercury and read the tiny numbers that indicate temperature. We probably haven’t used it in 40 years so we never considered buying a new one. But the new ones are a great improvement. Easy to use and see the results!

But now I think they’ve gone too far with thermometer technology. There’s a company called Kinsa that makes a fancy thermometer. It syncs up with a smartphone app that allows you to track your fever and symptoms. So far, it’s in use in 500,000 American households, and the company was only founded in 2012! Not only is this thermometer digitized and interconnected with electronic devices, the data it collects can be used by other companies for targeting ads.

For example, Clorox has paid Kinsa to use the information collected by thermometers to target ads for Clorox disinfectant wipes. Because the data includes zip codes of the thermometer users, Clorox can direct more of its ads to the areas that appear to be experiencing a rise in cold or flu symptoms, as indicated by temperature spikes. Similarly, other companies can start targeting ads for cough drops or chicken soup or whatever. Company spokespeople assert that they’re helping prevent the spread of illness through early detection. Right.

My old-fashioned thermometer now looks rather appealing.

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