Legal And Ethical Implications Of Wearable Health Technologies: A Comparative Analysis Of Privacy, Liability And Consent In India, EU And The United States
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Khushee Sabharwal, LLB, Symbiosis Law School, Pune
ABSTRACT
Wearable health technologies, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, continuous glucose monitors, and AI-powered health applications or 'health apps', are powering change in how healthcare is delivered by enabling real time monitoring, targeted interventions, and early diagnosis. However, these technologies collect continuous and highly sensitive health data, which creates real issues in terms of privacy, consent, data governance, cross-border transfers, and liability. This paper will critically consider these issues primarily through the lens of Indian constitutional jurisprudence, particularly the right to privacy established in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, and statutory developments under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and India's Medical Device Rules, 2017. In addition, it will reflect on inequalities in access to wearable devices, the ambiguity around who is liable for incorrect readings, consumer protection, medical negligence, judicial principles, and statutory developments in these areas. A comparative framework will consider the EU's regulatory framework under the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR and sectoral laws in the United States such as HIPAA and CCPA. This paper identifies areas of tension in the law, including the limits of anonymisation, opaque algorithms, dual-use dilemma, and discrimination risk while identifying burgeoning regulatory trends across jurisdictions. Lastly, this paper will present regulatory reforms in policy advocating for further investments in privacy; by-design, crisp consent standards, accountability for meaningful algorithmic transparency, coherent regulatory oversight, and robust data- governance models.
Keywords: Wearable Health Technology, Privacy, Consent, Liability and Data Protection
