“There is nothing that I need to keep secret”: Sharing Practices and Concerns of Wearable Fitness Data

There has been increasing use of commercial wearable devices for tracking fitness-related activities in the past few years. These devices sense and collect a variety of personal health and fitness data, which can be shared by users with different audiences. Yet, little is known about users’ practices for sharing information collected by these devices, and the concerns they have when disclosing this information across a variety of platforms. In this study, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with wearable fitness device users to understand their sharing intentions and practices, and to examine what they do to manage their privacy. We describe a set of common goals for sharing health and fitness information, which then influence users’ choices of the recipients and the specific practices they employ to share that information. Our findings indicate that participants were primarily concerned about acceptable norms and self-presentation rather than the sensitivity of the information. Our results provide a set of common goals and practices which can inspire new applications and help improve existing platforms for sharing sensed fitness information.