The ethics of self-tracking. A comprehensive review of the literature

Wieczorek, Michał; O’Brolcháin, Fiachra; Saghai, Yashar; Gordijn, Bert

doi:10.1080/10508422.2022.2082969

Cited by 18 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…The absence of regulations concerning the use of health and fitness SSTs (e.g., Wieczorek et al 2023) is a pressing concern due to the potential risk to consumer health and well-being. With the increasing prevalence of these technologies, it has become imperative to develop regulations and establish public policies aimed at harnessing the positive potential of these technologies to promote health, and avoiding the potential risk to improve consumer well-being.…”

Section: Practical Implications For Marketers and Public Policy Makersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Dark Side” of General Health and Fitness-Related Self-Service Technologies: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

Chen,

Schoefer,

Manika

et al. 2024

Journal of Public Policy & Marketing

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While general health and fitness-related self-service technologies, such as health and fitness apps and wearable activity trackers, are steadily increasing in popularity, there are now increasing reports of the potential harm they can cause to consumer well-being. An overview and analysis of the “dark side” of general health and fitness-related self-service technologies is therefore timely and appropriate. In the present work, the authors systematically identify and review the existing literature on this topic across various disciplinary backgrounds. They summarize available knowledge concerning the potential adverse consequences for consumer well-being resulting from the use of health and fitness apps and wearable devices and propose a conceptual framework to explain the relationship between using such technologies and these negative outcomes. Based on these insights, the authors identify current research gaps concerning the dark side of general health and fitness-related self-service technologies and propose corresponding directions for future research. They also discuss the implications of these findings for marketers and public policy makers.

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Section: Practical Implications For Marketers and Public Policy Makersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Dark Side” of General Health and Fitness-Related Self-Service Technologies: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

Chen,

Schoefer,

Manika

et al. 2024

Journal of Public Policy & Marketing

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“…The connectivity offered by health-related apps and devices, as well as the greater circulation of health data have led to the creation of online patient communities and the Quantified Self (QS) movement—groups that coordinate and encourage contacts between various users of mHealth and other self-monitoring technologies. Admittedly, QS has been widely criticized as contributing to the trend of individual responsibilization that we discussed in this paper (see Ruckenstein and Pantzar, 2017 , for a detailed overview of the movement) and the literature discusses its impact on health perception as, at best, ambiguous ( Wieczorek et al ., 2022 ). However, empirical investigations into the movement and various user and patient-centric communities demonstrate that they can serve as a valuable tool for increasing public participation and interest in the provision of health care, as well as lead to feelings of solidarity and care among its members (see e.g.…”

Section: Patient Communities and The Quantified Self Movement As A Wa...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthiness as a Virtue: The Healthism of mHealth and the Challenges to Public Health

Wieczorek,

Rossmaier

2023

Public Health Ethics

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Mobile health (mHealth) technologies for self-monitoring health-relevant parameters such as heart frequency, sleeping patterns or exercise regimes aim at fostering healthy behavior change and increasing the individual users to promote and maintain their health. We argue that this aspect of mHealth supports healthism, the increasing shift from institutional responsibility for public health toward individual engagement in maintaining health as well as mitigating health risks. Moreover, this healthist paradigm leads to a shift from understanding health as the absence of illness to regarding health as the performance of certain rituals in order to project healthiness. By drawing from the analogy between healthiness and traditional virtues, we evaluate the promises made by proponents of mHealth technologies for self-monitoring. We argue that the implementation and use of mHealth risk entrenching existing inequalities and, more particularly, tend to exclude populations situated at the losing end of those inequalities from participating in the quasi-virtue of healthiness. Consequently, the implementation and use of mHealth technologies not only present challenges for social justice but also undermine their primary societal goal—to promote public health. Finally, we offer several suggestions on how to realize the potential benefit of mHealth.

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Personalized Persuasive Technologies in Health and Wellness: From Theory to Practice

Alslaity,

Oyebode,

Vassileva

et al. 2024

Human–Computer Interaction Series

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The ethics of self-tracking. A comprehensive review of the literature

Cited by 18 publications

References 68 publications

The “Dark Side” of General Health and Fitness-Related Self-Service Technologies: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

The “Dark Side” of General Health and Fitness-Related Self-Service Technologies: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

Healthiness as a Virtue: The Healthism of mHealth and the Challenges to Public Health

Personalized Persuasive Technologies in Health and Wellness: From Theory to Practice

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