As digital health and wellness tools increase in popularity, consumers have increasingly turned to online tools for tracking personal health information and for tracking both their own personal health information and the daily management of their health conditions or wellness lifestyle. In the pursuit of convenience and personalized insight, people now use health-related applications, such as those that focus on fitness or fertility; however, many consumers are also concerned about how their personal information (i.e., their health information) will be handled when utilizing these tools.
For instance, several users are not aware that their health-related habits and activities may be tracked using cookies, trackers, or other types of analytics tools when they visit health-related websites. Although tracking technologies help businesses enhance both the user experience and their targeted marketing performance, these tracking technologies can also gather sensitive information regarding users' browsing habits, product preferences, and health-related activity.
As such, there is concern among consumers regarding the collection and sale of users’ browsing behavior through the Mira Fertility website privacy investigation, which outlines concerns associated with the collection and sale of user information collected from users visiting a fertility website. Health and wellness websites, as opposed to typical e-commerce websites, are held to a higher standard due to the sensitive nature of the information that may be discovered through browsing; therefore, all websites dealing with sensitive individuals’ health and wellness data must practice responsible and ethical handling of user data.
Platforms that track fertility and hormones contain highly sensitive information regarding people's intimate lives (e.g., reproductive health, hormone levels, and purchases associated with these subjects). Using this data can provide insight into someone’s medical issues, their plans for family building, and how well they are living their lives. Therefore, if a company uses that data without the express consent of the user, users may have a considerable amount of concern about the privacy implications.
One of the largest challenges is the transparency of tools being used to track this information. For example, many websites contain privacy policies or banners that require consent to track data; however, typically the user does not understand what they are consenting to. Also, the tracking tool may have access to an excess of information from their users because there are third-party services involved that have other data sources about the user. In other words, users have a significant gap between expectation and the practice of how their data is being collected and used.
Another major concern is the intended purpose of how the information will be utilized once the data has been collected. In particular, the use of data by third parties using tracking tools can assist them in creating targeted advertising, perform various types of analytics, or use the data in other ways that may not provide a benefit to the end-user. While this may generally be considered non-threatening to the average user, the manner in which it is applied to individuals' specific health-related information may begin to create problems when users start receiving ads or can access information that represent private parts of their lives; therefore, users will most likely begin to question how their data is being used.
The Mira Fertility investigation regarding privacy is one with a wider concern - the increased focus by both consumers and regulatory bodies on how companies are protecting sensitive data. Privacy laws are changing to reflect concerns about sensitive data, particularly related to health; Companies must get explicit consent to use data and will be obligated to treat data in a responsible way.
For consumers, this serves as an important reminder to think about what happens when they leave information on the Web and to minimize their digital footprint. To protect yourself, you can review your privacy settings on social networks, limit how much data you share and know what information you are consenting to give to an organization.
Data privacy will become an even bigger concern as the line between health care and technology continues to blur. Platforms that collect and use this data must be open about how they do it and build trust in their users. The privacy investigation of Mira Fertility is just one of many examples of the need for stricter regulations and more awareness of how to protect consumers as the world of digital health evolves.
