Samsung Health: How self-tracking trivialises our ethical concerns

Whether it is about giving an app information about our menstrual cycle, using your personalised discount card at the local supermarket, checking how much time you spend on your phone or how many steps you have taken, self tracking has become heavily normalised. It has crept into the daily events of our lives. We, without question, deliver our data to apps like that, while in turn we can have an overview of our behaviour or even our physical state. However, is it right to give up such information to the corporations who manage these apps?

In this essay examines the Samsung Health application, and its benefits and disadvantages, using gamification, behaviour modification and surveillance capitalism. This will be done using a literature review of previous articles published on this issue, together with an analysis of the application itself and the privacy policy of this application.  

Background of Samsung Health

Samsung Health is a free application developed to track different aspects of daily life, like physical activity, food consumption and sleep. The app claims this can be done with the goal of managing your health and eventually creating a healthy lifestyle (Samsung, 2022). At this moment, the app has over one billion downloads, since it is not only available for Samsung phone users, but also on iPhones and other devices.

There is a lack when it comes to research on this specific application. There have been studies on other comparable applications, like FitBit and applications which track your menstrual cycle (Olde Hampsink, 2021; Schabio, 2021). In these articles there is a focus on the workings of another specific application, which cannot be generalised to every application tracking a consumer’s daily life, thus cannot also be immediately compared to Samsung Health.

There has furthermore been research done in the direct effects of using self-tracking fitness applications, and in which population group self-tracking applications are more likely to be used (Alturki, 2016; Muntaner-Mas et al., 2019; Régnier & Chauvel, 2018). There has thus been a big focus in academic research in physical implications, instead of ethical implications relating to privacy and data collection.

Tracking, privacy and surveillance capitalism

Firstly what is understood with the term privacy needs to be clarified. There are many views on what privacy actually means. In this essay, Petronio’s Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory will be used, which states that privacy is control in access to oneself which in turn can be managed by opening and closing boundaries depending on privacy turbulence, like context or situation. (Petronio, 2013).

In order to understand why the Samsung Health application tracks one’s data, there will be a focus on surveillance capitalism, so there needs to be established what surveillance capitalism actually means. This is, according to Zuboff (2015), an ideology of datafication. This means that corporations have arranged a system where they are able to collect as much data as possible of their users, to then sell the data to other parties for money. S

In collecting the data of Samsung health users,  gamification and behaviour modification play a huge role. The notion of gamification refers to “a form of service packaging where a core service is enhanced by a rules-based service system that provides feedback and interaction mechanisms to the user with an aim to facilitate and support the users’ overall value creation" (Huotari & Hamari, 2011). Gamified applications thus offer services like a reward system or progress bars to influence the consumer, so they keep on playing the ‘game.' The notion of behaviour modification refers to “the process of changing patterns of human behaviour over the long term using various motivational techniques, mainly consequences (negative reinforcement) and rewards (positive reinforcement)" (Cocchimiglio, 2022).

To collect the data, there is an investigation into the Samsung Health application. This mainly includes the privacy policies and terms & conditions one has to accept before usage of the application. Furthermore there will be a focused on the activities one can perform on the application itself after having set up an account. These activities include functions like the reward system, the Together function and challenges Samsung offers to the users of the Samsung Health application. This data will be linked to the abovementioned theory to eventually assess ethical considerations.

Tracking in Samsung Health

Several of the options Samsung Health offers users to track Samsung, n.d.

The Samsung Health application has many functions other fitness applications also offer, like a step counter, a function which keeps track of sleep gotten and heart rate, but also offers multiple unique functions. One can choose on the applications whether they want to track the specific type of sports one practices, with choices including archery, elliptical trainer and scuba diving (Samsung Health, 2022). Furthermore, one can track intricate details of their own body, such as body fat percentage, blood oxygen and snoring detection. Track, Manage, Improve: Better Health with S Health App (Samsung, n.d.). This, however, can only be tracked when a Samsung watch is linked to the application. Samsung Health’s privacy policy states that “health- and wellness-related data” and “fitness and nutrition-related information” will be gathered by them- Samsung Health (Samsung Health, 2022). The moment one thus uses one of these functions, their data will be gathered.

The Together function of the Samsung Health application is interesting, since one not only is obliged to agree to the data privacy policy before usage, but also because the set up of this function is drastically different from the rest of the application. Whereas for other functions Samsung encourages to track for one’s own health and lifestyle, for the Together function Samsung encourages the players to play against each other and rewards the users winning the challenges set up for them.

The Together function on the Samsung Health app. Korea, 2021

The Together function is meant to play with other people. You can find other people by syncing up your application with your contacts, by searching for usernames, and by challenging random people. The challenge is all about walking more steps a day. Winning a monthly challenge means winning prizes, levelling up and being crowned as ‘boss’ in the application. The application is thus heavily gamified. It gives immediate feedback about whether what you are doing is right or not, so you keep on playing the game in the right way and overall feel happy about not only your achievements, but also yourself.

This notion thus immediately ties into behaviour modification. Since your friends are playing against you and you can immediately compare your scores with players all around the world and even personally compare with your friends, you feel like you should be better than others and thus alter your behaviour to come out on top. This is the case according to the developers of the Samsung Health app. According to them, “challenge participants take over 22% more steps a day than the average Samsung Health user” (Korea, 2021). 

Benefits for consumer & Samsung

One of the more obvious positive benefits is the improvement of lifestyle the consumers of the Samsung Health application experience. The application leans itself for behaviour modification, which apart from using the application more, also means that they can have an easy look into their daily lives and adjust to reach their personal goals. According to Hamari et al. (2014) gamification does, in the majority of research, produce positive effects when it comes to behaviour modification, especially when users are motivated and involved in the gamified function, which in this case does correlate with Samsung Health.

Hamari et al. (2014) furthermore suggest that gamification makes users keep the application, especially when they have become long-term user, since “removing gamification might have detrimental effects to those users who are still engaged by gamification, possibly due to loss aversion from losing e.g. earned badges and points”. Therefore the instalment of the gamification element into the application keeps more customers linked to Samsung, which is economically seen a positive aspect to Samsung.

Disadvantages for consumer & Samsung

The reason gamification is economically beneficial to Samsung is because of their revenue model. According to Samsung Health’s privacy policy Samsung is not only allowed to collect personal information, wellness-related data, nutrition-related information and information gathered from third-party devices, but is also allowed to share the data collected from these sources to affiliates, business partners and service providers (Samsung Health, 2022). This thus includes other Samsung Electronics Group companies and third-party apps which can be connected to Samsung Health. Samsung Health thus sells this information, mainly to the third-party business partners like Google, TikTok and Instagram, for money, so they can make revenue out of an application which is free to the user. They thus participate in surveillance capitalism.

The use of surveillance capitalism can have many consequences for the consumer, since the data can be seen as harmful or sensitive. Samsung is allowed to sell information like BMI, blood pressure level and menstrual cycle to third-parties, meaning that these third parties could start advertising according to your physical health. This can be sensitive or harmful, since from the data companies could conclude someone is pregnant, has a terminal disease or is obese, while this information may be untrue. Advertisements for such users may thus include products like weight loss diets, medicines or products for a baby, which can be highly insensitive, incorrect and even offensive.

Samsung furthermore does not take any responsibility for the incorrect information they not only show the user, but also sell to third-parties. They state in their terms in conditions that:

Any information you obtain from Samsung Health may not be suitable, accurate, complete or reliable and that Samsung [...] will not be held liable for any injuries, damages, losses and/or costs associated with Samsung Health, nor for the accuracy or reliability of any information found, acquired, or accessed through Samsung Health. (Samsung Health, 2022)

They furthermore claim that they are “not engaged in the practice of medicine and that Samsung does not determine the appropriate medical use of Samsung Health.” They thus do not seek to improve their app’s correctness or set-up, and expect the consumers to read every line of the terms and conditions to know that what Samsung Health presents could be highly inaccurate data.

In addition, it does have to be mentioned that while they do sell personal information, Samsung Health does not directly intrude into the privacy of their users. Samsung Health users can choose not to use certain functions of the application, like the gamified Together function or showcase their location, and therefore give up certain data. It is furthermore not mandatory to sync a third-party device like a Samsung watch, which can track more detailed data like blood glucose level and body fat. Users thus can control the access to oneself by closing these boundaries (Petronio, 2013).

Ethically acceptable?

Samsung Health offers multiple types of . Apart from a self tracking function, users can compete with others in the gamified Together function. Users benefit from this app by having the possibility to improve their lifestyle. Samsung benefits from the amount of users choosing the platform and thus makes profit. This, however, is done by using surveillance capitalism and thus encounters multiple ethical issues. The sensitive data given to Samsung can be sold to third-parties and thus, inappropriate advertisements can be shown, indirectly because of the Samsung Health application. Furthermore this data might be incorrect, of which Samsung claims no responsibility.

Users do, however, choose what they want to track , and therefore share, in the Samsung Health application. This does not mean users know the consequences of what they share. Furthermore is it unknown how the data they do receive is interpreted by companies and thus presented in the application and advertisements to them.

The possibility of Samsung Health spreading wrong information about their customers and showing them wrong information while not taking responsibility makes them ethically seen, as an improper corporation. The chance that users can improve their lifestyle is made irrelevant by them admitting that their application could be fully wrong about the users’ progress. 

Further research can be done on the effects of gamification on users’ motivation and engagement and the influence of possible action of tracking applications like Samsung Health to get a more in depth understanding of the users behaviour and motivation of using self tracking applications based on lifestyle.

References

Alturki, R. M. (2016). A systematic review on what features should be supported by fitness apps and wearables to help users overcome obesity. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology.

Cocchimiglio, S. (2022, April 25). What Is Behavior Modification? Psychology, Definition, Techniques & Applications | BetterHelp. BetterHelp.

Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014, January). Does gamification work?--a literature review of empirical studies on gamification. In 2014 47th Hawaii international conference on system sciences (pp. 3025-3034).

Huotari, K., & Hamari, J. (2011, May). Gamification” from the perspective of service marketing. In Proc. CHI 2011 Workshop Gamification.Muntaner-Mas, A., 

Korea. (2021, January 5). Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution With New Group Challenge Feature in Samsung Health. Samsung Newsroom. 

Martinez-Nicolas, A., Lavie, C. J., Blair, S. N., Ross, R., Arena, R., & Ortega, F. B. (2019). A systematic review of fitness apps and their potential clinical and sports utility for objective and remote assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness. Sports Medicine, 49(4), 587-600.

Olde Hampsink, I. (2021, September 6). Does a Fitbit make you healthier and happier? Diggit Magazine.

Petronio, S. (2013). Brief status report on communication privacy management theory. Journal of Family Communication, 13(1), 6-14.Régnier, F., & Chauvel, L. (2018). Digital inequalities in the use of self-tracking diet and fitness apps: interview study on the influence of social, economic, and cultural factors. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 6(4), e9189.

Schabio, N. (2021, November 8). Fitbit and participatory surveillance of the modern individual. Diggit Magazine. 

Zuboff (2015) surveillance capitalism: Zuboff, S., Möllers, N., Wood, D. M., & Lyon, D. (2019). Surveillance Capitalism: An Interview with Shoshana Zuboff. Surveillance & Society, 17(1/2), 257-266.