Not going to lie, ever since I got an Apple watch, I\u2019ve exercised way more. Those three rings are very addicting, and closing those rings became something of a daily mission. At the same time, I often ask myself how on Earth did I maintain an exercise routine before the age of wearables, and what even motivated me to do so?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data is so somehow very tempting and motivating to what we do. With the addition of an Apple watch, suddenly I am tracking my activities, heart rate, sleep (creepy\u2026), blood oxygen (actually very helpful when my grandma caught Covid) and even my location. My device then analyzes all this data, and provides me patterns and trends in what I do, making suggestions to improve my health and performance. It even shares some of my exercise data with my friends, so that suddenly I am in some intense competitions with my friends whom I don\u2019t see very often, but has the same wearable devices. I am also told if I am ever in a car accident, that an emergency call would be made on my behalf, and my personal data would be shared emergency services, potentially saving my life (okay but let\u2019s hope it doesn\u2019t come to that).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is all very good, isn\u2019t it? Something so small yet so powerful, improving my lifestyle and fitness. But what is really being tracked? Are we becoming depending on it? Are we stigmatized by our data? It occurs to me we often don\u2019t know where our data are stored, and how the companies are sharing our data. We don\u2019t understand how it is encrypted, or if only the necessary data are collected. Are health insights provided by these devices biased? Are certain populations underrepresented in the data? The commercialization of health data is concerning, since we don\u2019t know if companies are prioritizing profit, or are they prioritizing our health. Regardless, I think the collecting of all this data from each user raises ethical concerns, though it is a trend I do not see going away. These concerns can only be addressed by companies, policy makers and healthcare providers collaboratively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you think? Do you love your wearables? Do you have concerns over them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apple [Online Image]. (2021). https:\/\/www.apple.com\/ca\/newsroom\/2021\/06\/apple-advances-personal-health-by-introducing-secure-sharing-and-new-insights\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not going to lie, ever since I got an Apple watch, I\u2019ve exercised way more. Those three rings are very addicting, and closing those rings…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/files\/2023\/09\/Apple_wwdc21-ios15-health-app_hero_06072021_big.jpg.large_2x-1024x682.jpg\")
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