The Ethical Collapse of Health Tech

How Your Fitbit Might Be Selling You Out: The
Ethical Collapse of Health Tech

Once praised as revolutionary tools for health and wellness, wearable devices like Fitbit, Apple Watch, and Oura Ring have quietly become part of an expanding digital surveillance ecosystem. While millions trust these devices to monitor heart rates, track steps, and encourage mindfulness, few realize the deeply invasive role they now play in feeding surveillance capitalism—and how this intersects with an increasingly concerning government–Big Tech partnership.

We’ve reached a point where what you do with your body—how much you sleep, how fast your heart races, how often you move—isn’t just your personal business. It’s now valuable digital currency in a growing data economy. And the ethical red flags are everywhere.

From Wellness to Watchdog

At first glance, it seems harmless: wearable tech collects data to help us stay healthy, meet our fitness goals, and better understand our bodies. But here’s what’s really happening beneath the slick user interfaces and motivational nudges:

  • Biometric data is constantly being recorded: Steps, heart rate variability, sleep quality, oxygen saturation, GPS location, and even stress levels.

  • This data is stored, aggregated, and analyzed—often off-device: Meaning it's sent to servers, sometimes overseas, and handled by third-party vendors far outside the scope of medical privacy laws.

  • Much of it isn’t covered by HIPAA: If your doctor sees your Fitbit data as part of a clinical visit, that’s protected. But if that same data is collected through a companion app and sold to marketers or insurers, it often isn’t.

This creates a situation where you’re sharing intimate health details with companies who are under no legal or ethical obligation to protect them. And many are already cashing in.

The Business of Your Body

The real value in health tracking devices doesn’t lie in helping you get healthy—it lies in predicting your future behavior and monetizing it.

Think about it:

  • Frequent nighttime movement could be a red flag for anxiety or sleep disorders.

  • Low step counts over weeks might hint at depression or chronic illness.

  • Elevated heart rate responses to daily routines could suggest stress or cardiovascular issues.

To you, that’s a reason to take better care of yourself.
To a data broker? That’s a marketing opportunity—or worse, a risk assessment tool for an insurance company or employer.

Even more troubling is how this data can be triangulated with unrelated information—your browsing history, purchase records, and location data—to build detailed psychological and physiological profiles.

This isn’t about selling you sneakers. It’s about predictive analytics, insurance discrimination, targeted political manipulation, and even future law enforcement applications.

A Quiet Agreement: Government and Big Tech

Recently, there’s been a renewed push for public–private partnerships in healthcare data management. On the surface, these programs promise streamlined digital health systems, better pandemic responses, and improved access to medical resources.

But if Big Tech is already harvesting our health data for profit, what happens when they’re invited in to help the government manage digital health infrastructure?

Let’s be clear: combining unchecked corporate surveillance with centralized government authority creates a recipe for authoritarianism. Even if intentions are good now, the infrastructure sets a dangerous precedent.

We already see this trend in China, where biometric monitoring and health scores are tied to travel permissions and public access. The West may package it with fancier branding and better UX, but the direction is alarmingly similar.

The Ethical and Practical Case for Common Sense Boundaries

At EAPCS, we’re not anti-technology. We’re anti-exploitation.

Wearables and health tracking apps can offer real benefits—when used ethically, with transparency, and under clear personal control. But here’s what we believe must be addressed:

  • Users must have true ownership over their health data, including the ability to see, delete, and restrict its use.

  • Consent must be informed, not buried in 30-page legalese.

  • Government partnerships must prioritize human rights and data minimization, not profitability or control.

  • Public discussion is essential—not just between tech companies and politicians, but among the people most impacted by these systems: everyday users.

Ignoring these realities now only increases the cost later—when a “smart” society becomes a watched one.

Watch Your Pulse—and Your Privacy

Every time you strap on a smartwatch or sync your health data to an app, you’re participating in a system that—while marketed as helpful—can be hijacked for surveillance and profit.

We’re not suggesting panic. We’re calling for participation—in awareness, in advocacy, and in redesigning a better, more ethical relationship between people and their health tech.

EAPCS will continue to shine light on the quiet erosion of personal freedom masked as convenience. If you agree that it's time for more ethical and practical common sense in digital health, join us. Share this message. Push back on legislation that fast-tracks surveillance in the name of public health. And above all, remember: Your body is not Big Tech’s business.

Related Reading:
Government and Big Tech Team Up on Health Data: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? 

Dangers of handing health data to big tech

The power of profit and privacy

Closing Thought
The future of personal health must belong to the individual—not to the corporations or governments who profit from knowing more than they should. The time to draw a line is now—while we still can.



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