The rights of athletes
article, concerns are raised regarding who owns this data, how it is stored, where it is stored, who has access to it, and what safeguards are in place to protect it. 17
As noted, privacy and security are the main legal issues associated with wearable devices, and this is the same for athletes. Hutchinson et al. (2022) found several possible threats to privacy and security in the analysis phase of their study, as some data types were stored in an unencrypted form on the smartphone device. 18 The artefacts identified by the authors were linked to several features they examined and were identified to pose the following threats: i. Revealing user identity : Data sets associated with the account and profile creation could be used to uniquely identify users. For example, data such as the name of the user, birth date, age, location of their homes, and email address could expose their identity and possibly lead to privacy issues. 19 ii. Disclosing users' potential health issues : Data sets such as heart rate, exercise activity, and sleeping may potentially give clues regarding the health status of the user, exposing ailments such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 20 Such information may be used to discriminate against the user. iii. Enabling user tracking : The recovery of GPS coordinates could be used to track the user's movements, especially if these coordinates have timestamps. GPS coordinates could also allow a malicious person to determine the user's frequent locations. For instance, the Fitbit app on Android 7 stores the GPS coordinates related to an exercise that the user tracked with their Versa 2 smartwatch. 21 Wearable technology data falls under the GDPR category of personal data, as it can reveal sensitive information about an athlete's health, fitness, and aspects such as performance. 22 Generally, when health data is processed through a wearable device, the law may stipulate the need for explicit consent from the user to process the data. As provided for by the GDPR, consent must be freely given, be specific, informed, and involve a clear indication of how the user will use the data. 23 Therefore, athletes reserve the right to know how various parties collect, process, share, and store their data. Athletes also retain the right to 17 National Law Review (2019). Privacy Concerns With Wearable Technology in Sports. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/wearable-technology-booms-sports-and-athletic-organizations-all-levels- face-privacy. 18 Hutchinson, S., Mirza, M. M., West, N., Karabiyik, U., Rogers, M. K., Mukherjee, T., ... & Pettus-Davis, C. (2022). Investigating Wearable Fitness Applications: Data Privacy and Digital Forensics Analysis on Android. Applied Sciences , 12 (19), 9747. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid. 22 Brodies LLP (2018). Sports technology and the GDPR: data privacy concerns in sports analysis. https://brodies.com/insights/media-broadcasting-and-sports/sports-technology-and-the-gdpr-data-privacy- concerns-in-sports-analysis/. 23 Morton Fraser Lawyers. (2020). What are the data protection law implications for wearable technology? https://www.morton-fraser.com/insights/what-are-data-protection-law-implications-wearable-technology.
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