Are Wearable Devices a Privacy Risk?

"The research found that 90% of devices collect health and wellness data, making it the most commonly tracked category. 71% track heartrate, 56% assess blood oxygen, and 29% monitor skin temperature variation."

"Similarly, 87% track fitness and activity data, and 83% analyzed sleep information. Location was tracked by 63% of examined devices. 49 devices were shown to utilize GPS tracking, and 28 depended on a smartphone for GPS tracking."

"The research found that out of 33 notable brands analyzed, 7 explicitly sell or share collected data to third-party advertisers or marketing partners (23%). In total, more than half (55%) of all analyzed brands were found to share de-identified biometric data with outside researchers."

Ninety percent of wearable devices collect health and wellness data, making that the most commonly tracked category. Seventy-one percent track heartrate, 56% assess blood oxygen, and 29% monitor skin temperature variation. Eighty-seven percent track fitness and activity data and 83% analyze sleep information. Location data is collected by 63% of devices, with 49 devices using onboard GPS and 28 relying on a paired smartphone for GPS. Out of 33 notable brands, 7 (23%) explicitly sell or share collected data with third-party advertisers or marketing partners. Overall, 55% of brands share de-identified biometric data with external researchers.

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