RFK Jr. spent years warning about government data collection, now he’s demanding Americans hand theirs over

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made a dramatic reversal on data collection, now promoting the very surveillance programs he once warned his followers to fear. As the new Health and Human Services secretary, Kennedy announced a government partnership with major tech companies to collect and track Americans’ health data and medical records.

According to MSNBC, for years, Kennedy built his reputation warning against data collection by tech companies and government agencies. He told his followers that wearable devices and smart technology were part of a sinister plan to control Americans and turn them into “permanent consumers” in a surveillance system run by Big Tech.

Kennedy spent years warning his followers that wearable devices enabled tyranny concerns that may have been influenced by his own health issues, including a parasitic worm that literally ate part of his brain. On his 2020 podcast, he explained how companies would collect massive amounts of personal data. “They have so much data now that they have access to,” Kennedy said. “They’re going to take billions of terabytes of data and then they’re gonna do analytics on them and monetize them and sell them back to companies that want to turn you into a permanent consumer.”

Kennedy promotes data sharing as health secretary

Now in his role as health secretary, Kennedy is championing the same type of data collection he previously opposed. At a White House event on Wednesday, he announced the new initiative with a completely different tone. “For decades, bureaucrats and entrenched interests buried health data and blocked patients from taking control of their health,” Kennedy said. “That ends today. We’re tearing down digital walls, returning power to patients and rebuilding a health system that serves the people.”

The new program was unveiled at a ‘Make Health Tech Great Again’ event, where Kennedy promoted the same type of health data tracking he now advocates, though his obsession with tracking testosterone levels and sperm counts has raised eyebrows about his motivations.” event was hosted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Representatives from Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Google and OpenAI pledged to support the initiative. The goal is to make it easier for Americans to access their medical records and share data with healthcare providers, health devices and wellness trackers.

Kennedy’s transformation shows how conspiracy theorists can rebrand themselves once they gain positions of power. During his failed presidential campaign and HHS confirmation process, he already began softening his anti-vaccine stance, moving from a “staunch anti-vaxxer to a moderate who sought only safe vaccines.” His supporters have noticed the change, with some expressing concern about his new position on data collection.

Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization Kennedy previously led, came out against their former chairman’s stance on wearables in June. They called his new position “not a vision we share.” Mike Adams, a Kennedy ally known as “the Health Ranger,” posted on social media that “Wearables are spy devices” and criticized Kennedy’s claim that they “empower consumers” when they actually “upload their data to centralized corporations.”