Apple reportedly buys health data startup Gliimpse

Apple is delving further into the potentially lucrative sector of IT-enabled health care with its acquisition of the health data startup Gliimpse, Fast Company reports. Apple has not responded to a request for confirmation of the purchase.

Gliimpse translates unstructured electronic health records from multiple portals and allows a user to manage them, allowing a person to add documents, images, and other files to their own record. The data is encrypted with a pair 256 bit PKI keys in motion and in storage.

The three-year-old startup was founded by Anil Sethi, an entrepreneur who worked as an Apple systems engineer in the 1980s.

While Fast Compnay notes this is the first acquisition for Apple's digital health team, the Cupertino company has been steadily building up its portfolio of health-related products and investments.

Earlier this year, Apple unveiled CareKit, a framework that enables developers to build apps that allow patients to manage their medical conditions. They also have ResearchKit for tracking clinical data -- being used by GlaxoSmithKline -- as well as HealthKit for tracking health and fitness data. With health and wellness concerns expected to drive growth in the wearables market, Apple has proactively pursued health care apps for its operating systems and has filed patents for health-related wearable tech like emergency-detecting sensors.