D-WISE
AnTech 2021
1. November 2021
Foto: Antech-2021
AnTech 2021
The Anthropology of Technology Conference | November 4-5, 2021 | Aarhus University | Aarhus, Dänemark
Panel: Ethics, Values, and Morality
Präsentation: Where do digital health data go? A discourse analysis on protection and ethical considerations
By: Anja Mollah Haque, Liv Ohlsen, Gertraud Koch, Teresa Stumpf, Alejandra Tijerina García
The increasing digitalization of the health care system produces technologies and applications intended to support the well-being of individuals and the society at large, therefore changing its social organization and the practices of people in many ways. Electronic health records and telemedicine open up possibilities for automation and enhance the information flow of medical data and for medical care over a distance. Using human-technology configurations such as wearables, fitness trackers, and self-monitoring apps, health and lifestyle data can be recorded, allowing users to monitor and optimize their bodies. At the same time, these data facilitate new forms of surveillance for the economy and the state. In these processes ethical frameworks clash and are newly negotiated, demanding research from the perspective of an anthropology of technology.
The article presents the first results from a qualitative discourse analysis carried out as part of the Hamburg project D-WISE. Central questions are: Within which arenas of discourse do discussions on data protection and electronic health care issues currently take place? Which ethical questions are negotiated? What positions do the actors involved (patients, doctors, clinics, health insurance companies, enterprises, interest groups, politics) take?
