Algorithmic Self-Tracking for Health: User Perspectives on Risk Awareness and Coping Strategies

[摘要] Self‐tracking with wearable devices and mobile applications is a popular practice that relies on automated data collectionand algorithm‐driven analytics. Initially designed as a tool for personal use, a variety of public and corporate actors suchas commercial organizations and insurance companies now make use of self‐tracking data. Associated social risks suchas privacy violations or measurement inaccuracies have been theoretically derived, although empirical evidence remainssparse. This article conceptualizes self‐tracking as algorithmic‐selection applications and empirically examines users’ riskawareness related to self‐tracking applications as well as coping strategies as an option to deal with these risks. It draws onrepresentative survey data collected in Switzerland. The results reveal that Swiss self‐trackers’ awareness of risks relatedto the applications they use is generally low and only a small number of those who self‐track apply coping strategies.We further find only a weak association between risk awareness and the application of coping strategies. This points toa cost‐benefit calculation when deciding how to respond to perceived risks, a behavior explained as a privacy calculus inextant literature. The widespread willingness to pass on personal data to insurance companies despite associated risks pro‐vides further evidence for this interpretation. The conclusions—made even more pertinent by the potential of wearables’track‐and‐trace systems and state‐level health provision—raise questions about technical safeguarding, data and healthliteracies, and governance mechanisms that might be necessary considering the further popularization of self‐trackingfor health.

[学科分类] 医学（综合）

[关键词] algorithmic selection;coping strategies;mHealth;risk awareness;self‐tracking apps;self‐quantification;societal risks;userperception;wearables