IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jconsa/v54y2020i4p1355-1374.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Privacy and the quantified self: A review of U.S. health information policy limitations related to wearable technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Nancy H. Brinson
  • Danielle N. Rutherford

Abstract

As Americans increasingly integrate quantified self‐health and fitness tracking (QSHFT) technologies into their lives, the data collected by these devices offer to not only help users to live healthier lives, but also present opportunities for interested parties to identify and target them based on their health‐related behaviors. Clinicians, employers, health insurers, data brokers, marketers, and litigators have all expressed interest in accessing individuals' QSHFT data for a variety of purposes. Existing policies related to the collection, aggregation, and use of these data do not consistently address and protect individual health privacy concerns. Indeed, U.S. lawmakers recently proposed two separate bills designed to correct this deficiency. The purpose of this review is to examine current motivations, practices, policies, and regulations related to QSHFT data, identify areas where individuals' health information privacy is currently being compromised, and propose specific solutions to address this escalating area of privacy concern.

Suggested Citation

  • Nancy H. Brinson & Danielle N. Rutherford, 2020. "Privacy and the quantified self: A review of U.S. health information policy limitations related to wearable technologies," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1355-1374, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:4:p:1355-1374
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12320
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12320
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joca.12320?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. George R. Milne & George Pettinico & Fatima M. Hajjat & Ereni Markos, 2017. "Information Sensitivity Typology: Mapping the Degree and Type of Risk Consumers Perceive in Personal Data Sharing," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 133-161, March.
    2. Damon Jones & David Molitor & Julian Reif, 2019. "What do Workplace Wellness Programs do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1747-1791.
    3. George Pettinico & George R. Milne & Elizabeth G. Miller, 2020. "Quantification of Self in Third‐Party‐Administered Wellness Programs: The Impact of Perceived Self‐Empowerment," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 159-176, March.
    4. S. Umit Kucuk, 2016. "Consumerism in the Digital Age," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 515-538, November.
    5. repec:mpr:mprres:6177 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Anna M. Turri & Ronn J. Smith & Steven W. Kopp, 2017. "Privacy and RFID Technology: A Review of Regulatory Efforts," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 329-354, July.
    7. Caroline Graham Austin & Agnieszka Kwapisz, 2017. "The Road to Unintended Consequences Is Paved with Motivational Apps," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 463-477, July.
    8. Andrew J. Dahl & James W. Peltier & George R. Milne, 2018. "Development of a Value Co‐Creation Wellness Model: The Role of Physicians and Digital Information Seeking on Health Behaviors and Health Outcomes," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 562-594, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hayes, Jameson L. & Brinson, Nancy H. & Bott, Gregory J. & Moeller, Claire M., 2021. "The Influence of Consumer–Brand Relationship on the Personalized Advertising Privacy Calculus in Social Media," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 16-30.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Slepchuk, Alec N. & Milne, George R. & Swani, Kunal, 2022. "Overcoming privacy concerns in consumers’ use of health information technologies: A justice framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 782-793.
    2. Elena Chatzopoulou & Raffaele Filieri & Shannon Arzu Dogruyol, 2020. "Instagram and body image: Motivation to conform to the “Instabod” and consequences on young male wellbeing," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1270-1297, December.
    3. Gulesci, Selim & Puente–Beccar, Manuela & Ubfal, Diego, 2021. "Can youth empowerment programs reduce violence against girls during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    4. Kaspar Wuthrich & Ying Zhu, 2019. "Omitted variable bias of Lasso-based inference methods: A finite sample analysis," Papers 1903.08704, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    5. Kaiser, Tim & Menkhoff, Lukas, 2022. "Active learning improves financial education: Experimental evidence from Uganda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. George R. Milne & Begum Kaplan & Kristen L. Walker & Larry Zacharias, 2021. "Connecting with the future: The role of science fiction movies in helping consumers understand privacy‐technology trade‐offs," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 737-762, September.
    7. Iizuka, Toshiaki & Nishiyama, Katsuhiko & Chen, Brian & Eggleston, Karen, 2021. "False alarm? Estimating the marginal value of health signals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    8. Mounu Prem & Juan F. Vargas & Olga Namen, 2023. "The Human Capital Peace Dividend," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(3), pages 962-1002.
    9. Alice Tianbo Zhang & Sasmita Patnaik & Shaily Jha & Shalu Agrawal & Carlos F. Gould & Johannes Urpelainen, 2022. "Evidence of multidimensional gender inequality in energy services from a large-scale household survey in India," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(8), pages 698-707, August.
    10. Emily Beam & Priya Mukherjee & Laia Navarro-Sola, 2022. "Lowering Barriers to Remote Education: Experimental Impacts on Parental Responses and Learning," Working Papers 2022-030, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    11. Katarzyna Sanak-Kosmowska, 2023. ".#isoverparty. The Consequences of Brand Boycotts for Brands in the Social Media Environment After Russia’s Invasion in Ukraine," Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 1(16), pages 22-38.
    12. Erdem Özkan, 2018. "Why Do Consumers Behave Differently in Personal Information Disclosure and Self-Disclosure? The Role of Personality Traits and Privacy Concern," Alphanumeric Journal, Bahadir Fatih Yildirim, vol. 6(2), pages 257-276, December.
    13. Zhao, Shuping & Xu, Kai & Wang, Zhao & Liang, Changyong & Lu, Wenxing & Chen, Bo, 2022. "Financial distress prediction by combining sentiment tone features," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    14. David M Kaplan & Wei Zhao, 2023. "Comparing latent inequality with ordinal data," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 26(2), pages 189-214.
    15. Amanda Gaulke, 2021. "Individual and family labor market impacts of chronic diseases," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 482-482, January.
    16. Alexandre Chirat, 2022. "Consumer sovereignty in the digital society," EconomiX Working Papers 2022-25, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    17. Sean F. Ellis & Maik Kecinski & Kent D. Messer & Clive Lipchin, 2022. "Consumer perceptions after long‐term use of alternative irrigation water: A field experiment in Israel," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 1003-1020, June.
    18. Rettl, Daniel A. & Schandlbauer, Alexander & Trandafir, Mircea, 2022. "Employee Health and Firm Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 15147, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Kvarven, Amanda & Strømland, Eirik & Johannesson, Magnus, 2019. "Identification of and Correction for Publication Bias: Comment," MetaArXiv dh87m, Center for Open Science.
    20. Shooshan Danagoulian & Daniel Grossman & David Slusky, 2022. "Health Care Following Environmental Disasters: Evidence from Flint," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(4), pages 1060-1089, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:4:p:1355-1374. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0078 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.