Health checks by smartphone raise privacy fears

Really? Health checks by smartphone raise privacy fears? Health checks by smartphone should raise "health check" fear!! How can you rely on your smartphone sensors for your health check!!

You don't. You rely on sensors that tie into your smartphone.

Others fear that insurance companies will get hold of customers' health information and could make them pay more for coverage

In otherwords, this privacy concern is only a problem for people living in America under a US style health insurance systems. Where your policy is cancelled by the insurance company if they prove that you knew of a pre-existing condition but failed to declare it. It would be a shame if that held back the development of new technology for the rest of us.

this privacy concern is only a problem for people living in America under a US style health insurance systems

I don't think so. Life insurance companies would likely use this kind of data to determine premiums. That is probably a concern in most developed countries.