Many popular wearable fitness devices pose potential privacy and security risks, as user data is transmitted between the device and the app or to third parties with low levels of security, due to lack of encryption or anonymization.
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Most wearable fitness trackers have complementary smartphone apps that users can download and sync with their trackers to access a dashboard showing their activity and fitness data. In fact, one in five Canadians between the ages of 35 and 49 owns at least one wearable. Millions of wearable fitness trackers are sold in Canada each year. įitness wearables, devices which are most popularly worn directly on the wrist, chest, or waist, collect a wide range of data related to a person’s activity and routine throughout their day, including steps, distance traveled, floors climbed, calories burned, active minutes, heart rate, and even specific exercises or activities. Current health data protection regulations in Canada, such as Ontario’s PHIPA, allow residents’ data to be stored in the U.S. companies, since the data being collected by these devices is typically transmitted to and stored in the U.S. This is important for Canadians who use wearables produced by U.S. regulation that enforces patient-doctor confidentiality, does not apply to apps or wearable health and fitness devices, meaning any device that monitors and collects an individual’s data may share it. In fact, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a U.S. Recent investigative reports have shown that the organizations who own these devices not only collect an individual’s lifestyle, health, and fitness data, but may share or sell this information with third parties, such as insurance and pharmaceutical companies, often without the users’ informed consent. However, the use of these devices is not without tradeoffs in relation to privacy and security. In many cases, the devices provide convenience for users by summarizing data about their well-being and creating personalized diet, fitness, or health regimes without the need for a personal trainer or a dietitian. The ability for users to monitor their own health and fitness activities has created a growing demand for these devices.
Smartphone apps, wearables, and medical monitoring systems provide individuals with insights into their health and fitness activities, such as how many hours of sleep they got last night or how many calories they burned during their morning run. A number of devices have enabled the active and passive collection of an individual’s health and fitness data.
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