If I Won't WebMD it-Don't WebMD Me!


As of now, I want to center my contribution to our Field Guide for surviving the darkness around today's youth. Being a teacher, I find this idea of digital surveillance fascinating, but also discouraging in terms of how to teach my students. They only care about the latest music or what Youtuber said what this week. I struggle with finding the words to make them care about this issue, as they need to be aware of it. 

During my research on how best to discuss this with them, I came across a New York times article, titled "How Companies Scour Our Digital Lives for Clues to Our Health", by Natasha Singer. This article brought up the idea of digital phenotyping: when a source, such as Facebook, tries to assess someone's physical or mental well-being based on their digital habits. 

According to the article, through tracking the amount of times a person touches their phone to the types of interactions they have online, this field is aiming to assess suicidal thoughts, detect depression in the users, and ultimately track consumers health. The article highlights concerns surrounding this new field, specifically the lack of research associated with it. While others argue that by attempting to detect these issues, the opposite effect will occur on individuals: increased anxiety about being tracked in this way. 

So many thoughts!

First-WHAT?! Last time I checked, a doctor is supposed to pronounce someone as ill or healthy, NOT a computer, or someone behind a screen. How in the world is an algorithm going to tell me how I feel. A computer-which is physically incapable of human emotion-is going to assess my human emotions? Bull. 

Second-One example of digital phenotyping is how Facebook is using this to assess suicidal thoughts. Facebook will scan posts and videos, looking for certain words or phrases that indicate someone will need help. My concern here is then what. If Facebook does detect a pattern, what then? According to the article, it states, "In some cases, Facebook sends users a supportive notice with suggestions like “Call a helpline.” In urgent cases, Facebook has worked with local authorities to dispatch help to the user’s location. The company said that, over a month, its response team had worked with emergency workers more than 100 times." The article later confirmed my fear, that while this sounds like an interesting step, "...Facebook has not published a study of the system’s accuracy and potential risks, such as inadvertently increasing user distress." To clarify, not only does Facebook not have a medical license, they have no proof that their efforts help, rather than hurt, an individual. 

Frank Pasquale, a law professor at the University of Maryland who studies emerging health technologies, prints up the problem that once labeled as mentally ill, that sticks with you. He raises concerns over who else has access to this information. In a world where data is bought and sold easily, who is that information being given to?

I do understand the idea of assisting mental health through online resources in this new digital age. This article reminds me of the commercials I've seen lately where there is an app you can download to talk to a medical professional via text. However, I am beyond concerned at the speed with which these technologies are being implemented. It appears that these strategies are being put in place without user consent, and could potentially do more a harm than good. If a person is mentally unstable, and feel targeted by their Facebook, who is to say how they would react. It's alarming that the research and studies haven't been conducted and I worry about this abuse of power!


Comments

  1. Greeting fellow Alchemist,

    I found your post on this week to be quite interesting. I can't agree with you more in thinking that the speed in which technology is being implemented in so many areas of our lives is scary. There should be more regulations to the amount of implementation that are added in different field, especially in those where Doctors have the natural advantage in diagnosing the public with certain symptoms, diseases, ect., and not a computer without their supervision or approval.

    Thanks for sharing this idea!
    karel

    ReplyDelete

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