Samsung Health threatens to delete users' data if they opt out of AI training

The Samsung Health app has come under scrutiny following reports that it warns users their data will be deleted if they decline to take part in training artificial intelligence models.

At issue is the wording in the app's interface, which presents users with a choice: consent to the use of their personal data for training Samsung's AI systems, or face the consequence of having their accumulated health information deleted.

The news drew a strong reaction from the tech community. On Hacker News the post gathered 225 points and drew 62 comments — users are debating the ethics of such a practice and how well it squares with the principles of voluntary consent to the processing of personal data.

Health-monitoring apps collect sensitive information — from sleep and physical activity metrics to heart-rate data. Such details are especially valuable for training algorithms, but using them has traditionally called for particular caution on the part of companies, given the delicate nature of medical data.

The situation raises the question of how appropriate it is to frame the user's choice as “consent to AI training or loss of data,” since posing it this way can be perceived as a form of coercion that limits any real freedom of choice.

The details of exactly how Samsung plans to use the collected data, and on what scale such a policy will be applied, remain a matter of discussion within the community for now.

Source: Hacker News