Health wearables : Ensuring fairness, preventing discrimination, and promoting equity in an emerging internet-of-things environment

Wearable fitness devices have the potential to address some of the most challenging public health problems in the United States. But they also raise serious privacy concerns. The data they collect can be combined with personal information from other sources, raising the specter of discriminatory profiling, manipulative marketing, and data breaches. Yet, these devices fall between the cracks of a weak health privacy and a consumer protection system in the United States. This article offers key principles and critical issues that must be considered in order to develop effective privacy, equity, and consumer protections for the emerging digital health marketplace.