Have not read the article, but every time I've heard about it my thought is, "make it not connected to the internet." Basically, keep the data local, then you can choose to take to your doctor, or find a way to analyze it yourself. No need for it to be transmitted anywhere.
Of course, that would require respecting a persons privacy and not falling for the lure of "big data" "saving the world".
That defeats the entire point of this, the whole point isn’t a diagnosis but an early warning especially of it can be performed within a single bowl movement so when you are done and ready to flush you get some feedback.
If you need to go to a doctor to get any analysis you might as well bring your own stool sample.
This is intended to replace home stool testing kits which are well icky and tricky to use.
Having smart toilets in public or semi pubic places would be a good balance between privacy and utility, it can’t tie results to a given user but it can collect collective health data and alert users of potential health concerns.
I think the point of the parent is not so much that you need to take your data to a doctor as much as it’s about not uploading the data to the internet (ie keep the data local).
Or the obvious middle-ground: make it optional to upload it. I would certainly not want this unless it uploaded and analyzed the data automatically. If it can happen locally, no problem, but I guess it makes it much harder.
It is also reset with every update, which have an ominously high frequency, like once a week. The device will of course disable it's features if an update is not applied.
Also, make it full of "useful" granularity like: "upload data on Tuesdays" or "Only upload data if the water PH is less than 7".
But then you would have to install updates constantly to have the latest models to compare your data against, vs a cloud solution where the models are always up to date.
Privacy is important, but I think the solution I want is more in the area of haveibeenpwned, where an anonymized hash is passed into the ether rather than all the personally identifiable stool information.
Of course, that would require respecting a persons privacy and not falling for the lure of "big data" "saving the world".