Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

...

  • Are there any ethical or legal obligations for HealthySensors aside from those that apply to third party vendors collecting user data?
  • Is “bundled consent” for the Piggyback study ethical, given the incentives for participation in the wellness program?
  • What are consent best practices?
    • Should the company broker consent? What if the company’s consent or privacy policies change during the course of the researcher’s study?
    • Should the researcher obtain consent at the beginning of the study, independent of the company?
    • The standards for PGHD-based consent are changing more quickly than research protocols. Are there any concerns for longitudinal studies that have not budgeted for changes in participant expectations for privacy, consent, and security?
    • What other concerns should be raised about use of PGHD in research?
    • Different private organizations have different mechanisms related to terms of use and how personal data will be governed (e.g. Withings and Sage have different policies). Would different standards for these agreements clarify restrictions for both users and researchers (e.g. the way that different open-source software license standards have different, but known and well understood, terms)?
    • If participants submit additional data as part of their activity tracking (e.g., weight, exercise and meal regime, sleep patterns, mood), do concerns arise over the sensitivity or identifiability of this data? Should another consent be completed to cover the additional data collected from the individual?
      • Is additional consent required for the study of this data vs. the data automatically recorded by the sensor?
      • Are there any employer obligations for data collected under the wellness program under GINA or ADA?
      • What privacy and consent consideration arise if the device platform includes functionalities such as voice recordings (e.g., goals, mood, responses to optional surveys)?

 

Title

Response

Description

A study using PGHD data authorized through direct connections to commercial database

Primary actor/participant

Participants, PGHD Company, Research Team, Employer

Support actor/participant

PGHD Information Systems (Sensor company’s information system), Research Information Systems, Sensor devices

Preconditions

  • IRB approval for an NIH-funded add-on to a commercial entity program evaluation
  • Account for consent for both research and participation in the employer based program (separate elements of the use case)

Post conditions

  • Researchers have access to a longitudinal data set with ethical participant consent.

Alternatives

  • PGHD Company changes privacy policies and eliminates access to data during Piggyback study.
  • In addition to standard activity monitoring data, sensor data contains information participants enter voluntarily for personal tracking but do not want to share for research.
  • Terms of use indicate that the PGHD Company holds the rights to all data and can release the information to the employer or researcher without notifying the user.

Considerations

  • Whether bundled consent for the Piggyback study is ethical
  • Consent best practices including whether the company should broker consent, and whether the researcher should obtain consent at the beginning of the study independently of the company
  • Additional privacy and consent considerations if the device platform includes functionalities such as voice recordings

Data Elements Considered

Sensor Data

Purpose of the Data Collection

Wellness Program, Fitness Tracking, Research

Purpose of Data Use

Research and Program Evaluation

Terms of Transfer to the Data Holders

Wellness Program, Fitness, Terms of Use by PGHD Vendor

Terms of Transfer to Researchers

Employer-sponsored evaluation, separate IRB-approved research study with a subset of the data

 

...