• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, August 3, 2016

What if the Apple Watch used an algorithm that could gauge your mood based on your skin temperature, blood flow, and other biometric measurements? And, what if Apple then used this data to target you with specific marketing messages, whether it was on your watch, iPhone, or some other Apple device?

Well, a couple years ago, Apple’s ad sales division filed a patent for this exact purpose, according to Chad Vavra, Experience Strategy and Design Director at Isobar. “That’s a level of intrusion that’s risky,” Vavra told attendees of MediaPost’s IOT Marketing Forum, on Wednesday. It’s “kind of concerning.”

Vavra’s peers seemed less concerned about the implications of such a patent, however. Consumers’ rights will continue to be “protected in permissions,” said Chuck Fletcher, Technology Director of Emerging Experiences at Razorfish.

Rachel Pasqua, Practice Lead in the Connected Life department at MEC Global, seemed to think the idea was pretty cool. “So if someone’s depressed, you could offer them a Wellbutrin?” she asked.

For the record, Show Daily couldn't find any evidence of Apple taking out any such patent.