Passive social sensing with smartphones: a systematic review

Abstract

Smartphones are widely used hubs of personal communication. With their many sensors, they are capable of monitoring social behaviours. Calls, messages, application usage and even face-to-face conversations can be captured by smartphones. These data are then used to study psychological, behavioural and clinical issues, thus providing an objective and continuous perspective on people’s social lives. However, compared with questionnaires, researchers are unfamiliar with the potential and challenges of smartphone social sensing. Moreover, previous studies utilised their own instruments and strategies, which caused repetitive work and threatened the generalisability or validity of results. To fill the gap between conceptual and empirical knowledge, we conducted a systematic review on empirical studies that applied passive smartphone social sensing. Forty-seven eligible articles were retrieved from 2,741 results from five major databases. A paradigm of reviewed studies was extracted, and the comprehensive procedures of passive smartphone social sensing, including applied sensors, experiment length and data analysis methods, were also summarised. This information can provide a general reference for researchers interested in applying passive smartphone social sensing. Benefits such as ubiquitousness, unobtrusiveness and personalisability and challenges such as privacy, accuracy and methodology were also reported. Moreover, fundamental research on reasonable sensor frequency choices, standardising features and implementing state-of-the-art technologies is recommended to enhance passive smartphone social sensing usability.

The Feasibility of Implementing Remote Measurement Technologies in Psychological Treatment for Depression: Mixed Methods Study on Engagement

“…GPS and Bluetooth are sensors that can be easily switched off from a smartphone’s main setting page and may be seen as more intrusive forms of monitoring. This was supported by the finding that 35% of those interviewed felt “monitored” by the apps and the recurrence of “privacy” as a theme in RMT research for health care [ 38 ].…”

Acceptability and experience of a smartphone symptom monitoring app for people with psychosis in China (YouXin): a qualitative study

“…This fact may explain the high rates of missing data for passive monitoring found in the YouXin study [ 54 ], and in other passive monitoring studies [ 53 , 55 , 56 ]. In addition, participants mentioned power consumption was higher than before using the app, which is likely caused by passive monitoring [ 57 ]. Therefore, optimising passive data collection strategies to reduce missing data and power consumption is needed.…”

Advancing the understanding of children’s digital engagement: responsive methodologies and ethical considerations in psychological research

“…Timestamped output from passive sensors also allows researchers to examine children’s digital behaviors at any time of day or night. However, Zhang et al (2022) found that only 10 out of 47 eligible studies considered ethical questions of informed consent when collecting passive sensing data from users’ smartphones (calls, messages, application usage). In their study of smart-home technology, Nelson and Allen (2018) highlight the researchers’ challenge of adapting not only to technological affordances but also to rapidly evolving public perceptions on permissible data practices.…”

“…In their study of smart-home technology, Nelson and Allen (2018) highlight the researchers’ challenge of adapting not only to technological affordances but also to rapidly evolving public perceptions on permissible data practices. Zhang et al (2022) recommend as ethical practice that the permissions granted to individual commercial applications should be strictly limited, telephone numbers should be encrypted, and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi MAC addresses and call/messages numbers anonymized, so that the data can ‘maintain uniqueness but lose traceability’ (p. 9). We concur with Zhang et al’s (2022) recommendation: a considerable number of American citizens experience a prevailing sense of resignation regarding the utilization of their data traces by corporations and marketers.…”

“… Zhang et al (2022) recommend as ethical practice that the permissions granted to individual commercial applications should be strictly limited, telephone numbers should be encrypted, and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi MAC addresses and call/messages numbers anonymized, so that the data can ‘maintain uniqueness but lose traceability’ (p. 9). We concur with Zhang et al’s (2022) recommendation: a considerable number of American citizens experience a prevailing sense of resignation regarding the utilization of their data traces by corporations and marketers. Thus, to meaningfully progress research in this area, it is crucial to align expectations regarding informed consent, data security, and anonymization.…”