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What motivates people to hand over their health data?


Anastasia Tsirtsakis


10/06/2025 3:02:11 PM

New research has found the majority of people are willing to share their wearable health data if it will lead to improved care.

GP checking smart watch on patient
More than 90% of people who use wearable activity trackers are happy to share their data with a trusted healthcare provider.

Concerns about data privacy are widespread. However, new research has found the majority of people are willing to share their personal health information with their healthcare providers if it will enhance their care.
 
The study, undertaken by the University of South Australia (UniSA), found that 94% of people who use wearable activity trackers are open to sharing their data with their healthcare providers.
 
Of those, 47% had already discussed their data with their healthcare provider and 43% had already shared it.
 
A much smaller number – 26% of respondents – voiced concerns over the prospect.
 
Dr Ty Ferguson, who was part of the research team, says the findings suggest that sharing personal health data with health providers could pave the way for more personalised care.
 
‘Every day we hear about privacy risks and data breaches, so it’s reasonable to assume that data sharing might raise issues,’ he said.
 
‘But in reality, the opposite is true – people are overwhelmingly willing to share health data from their smartwatches, as long as it’s with trusted health professionals such as doctors or physiotherapists.’
 
Dr Ferguson noted that willingness to do so was even more likely among people with chronic health conditions.
 
‘By sharing personalised health data – such as sleep patterns, physical activity, or heart rate – healthcare providers can gain deeper insights about each patient’s needs, potentially offering smarter, more responsive, and better-quality care,’ he said.
 
In Australia, as of 2023, 36% of people own a smartwatch and demand is growing, with an increasing number of people using them for workouts and health monitoring.
 
Research indicates that this trend is linked to an increasing interest in personalised care.
 
According to a 2022 report by Deloitte Australia, 70% of Australians are willing to use virtual health and more than 80% are ready to share their health data digitally, which it says shows ‘a strong inclination towards taking charge of their health through digital means’.
 
‘Consumers in Australia are driving the change towards more integrated and personalised healthcare services, demanding transparency, convenience, and accessibility,’ Deloitte said, adding that the motivation is driven by the desire for ‘more predictive, preventative, proactive, personalised, and precise healthcare’.
 
Meanwhile, data suggests there a number of benefits to personalised healthcare, with the World Economic Forum claiming it has already reduced administration costs, hospital admissions and long hospital stays by 5–10%.
 
This could have significant impacts for Australia where chronic disease is on the rise and forecast to remain higher in remote parts of the country, reflected in disease-related spending, from $159.3 billion in 2021–22 to $172.3 billion in 2022–23, with chronic diseases accounting for nearly half, totalling approximately $82 billion.
 
To help prevent disease, co-researcher Kimberley Szeto said there is an urgent need for healthcare systems to better support healthy lifestyle behaviour – and that wearable activity trackers are a relatively low-cost tool that could assist.
 
‘Being inactive, not getting enough quality sleep, and poor diet, are all preventable behaviours that can contribute to a higher risk of chronic disease,’ she said.
 
‘If people are open to sharing this information with their health providers, they could potentially receive health support that is specifically targeted to their own condition and health behaviours.’
 
However, while Ms Szeto says there are clear positives, she also acknowledges the challenges – concerns that some GPs also share.
 
‘From ensuring the reliability and validity of wearable activity data and costs for data integration to improving data security and training for healthcare providers,’ she said.
 
‘Personalised healthcare is the way of the future; when we have the data and the desire to share it, it’s only a matter of time before we see progression.’
 
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chronic conditions data privacy health data personalised healthcare preventive healthcare


newsGP weekly poll Do you think data from patients’ wearable devices, such as a smartwatch, can be useful as part of a general practice consult?
 
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newsGP weekly poll Do you think data from patients’ wearable devices, such as a smartwatch, can be useful as part of a general practice consult?

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