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28 Alb. L.J. Sci. & Tech. 39 (2017-2018)
Beyond Fitbit: A Critical Appraisal of Optical Heart Rate Monitoring Wearables and Apps, Their Current Limitations and Legal Implications

handle is hein.journals/albnyst28 and id is 45 raw text is: BEYOND FITBIT: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF OPTICAL HEART RATE MONITORING WEARABLES AND APPS, THEIR CURRENT LIMITATIONS AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Michael Lang'* ABSTRACT Fitness and health-care-oriented wearables and apps have been around for a couple of years and are still gaining momentum. Over time, they have begun to harness considerable computational power and to incorporate increasingly sophisticated sensors, eventually resulting in a blurring of the lines between consumer electronics and medical devices. While their benefits and potentials are undisputed, the overly optimistic appraisal commonly encountered in both mass media and academic literature does not adequately reflect unsolved problems and inherent limitations of these devices. This Article will argue that while these issues have long been known to the engineering community, their relevance and legal implications appear to have been grossly underestimated. January 2016 marked a turning point, as news of two class-action lawsuits filed against major manufacturer Fitbit brought widespread attention to accuracy, reliability, and safety concerns regarding these devices. This Article will provide a concise overview of optical heart rate monitoring technology, the current state of the art, and research trends. It will be argued that under real-world scenarios these apps and devices are currently inherently inaccurate and unreliable, with even greater problems on the horizon as the 1 M.Sc. Electrical Engineering, Technische Universitit (TU) Darmstadt, Germany, currently pursuing a Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering at TU Darmstadt. The work of M. Lang was supported by the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State Governments and the Graduate School of Excellence Computational Engineering at TU Darmstadt. The views expressed in this Article are solely those of the Author in his private capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views of TU Darmstadt or any other organization. Please direct any comments and questions to michael.lang@ieee.org. 39

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