Day 1 - Workshops
Session 1 - Day 1 - 11:15-12:45
Workshop 1A: Mobile Phone App Data for Public Good: Opportunities and Challenges
Workshop 1B: Data Donation: empower the public through sharing their personal data for health research
Workshop 1C: The Benefits and Harms of Self-Tracking: Can Contextualising the Digital Records of Wearables Protect
Session 2 - Day 1 - 15:30 - 17:00
Workshop 2A: Smart Data Research UK Expert Panel: Building Public Trust
Workshop 1A: Mobile Phone App Data for Public Good: Opportunities and Challenges
Organisers: Luning Li, Michael Sinclair, Rafa Verduzco Torres, Faraz Malik Awak, Varun Raturi
Urban Big Data Centre, University of Glasgow
Mobile phone app (MPA) data represents a significant innovation in social science research, offering detailed spatial and temporal insights into human mobility and activity patterns. As a type of digital footprint data, it holds the potential to revolutionise how we understand and address societal challenges, particularly in areas like urban planning, public health, and access to services. Unlike traditional surveys, MPA data provides real-time, passive observations of behaviour, capturing nuanced dynamics at scale. However, its full potential for advancing the public good remains relatively underexplored.
Key barriers include limited access to raw data, challenges in integrating MPA data with other datasets, and unresolved ethical concerns such as privacy risks and representativeness. These challenges highlight the need for broader discussions and collaborative efforts to unlock the value of this data while ensuring its responsible use.
At the Urban Big Data Centre, University of Glasgow, we have worked extensively with MPA data from providers such as Huq and Tamoco under non-commercial research licences. Through this experience, we have gained insights into the data’s structure, accuracy, and applicability in addressing real-world questions. This workshop builds on our work, aiming to share our findings and foster a collaborative exploration of how MPA data can be leveraged alongside other data sources for the public good. By focusing on practical applications, methodological challenges, and ethical considerations, the session will address the critical need to advance the use of MPA data in ways that benefit diverse stakeholders.
The 90-minute session will begin with a 30-minute introduction, followed by a 60-minute interactive segment. In the first part of the workshop (30 minutes), leads will introduce the data and present a range of applications towards the public good, as well as key challenges faced in working to apply this data across a range of areas. Following this foundation, workshop leads will facilitate breakout group discussions (60 minutes) where researchers and practitioners can brainstorm one or two new ideas per group on how this data might be used in combination with other data sources towards applications in social science which have a public benefit. They will propose a new area of study for the data, new output or products from the data which can be used by a range of stakeholders, data linkages which increase the value of the output and how the output might address some key social challenges. Groups will then feedback ideas.
In the final section, groups will critique the proposed ideas of another group in terms of potential challenges and ethical considerations which might impede the proposed work. This discussion will be guided by workshop leads who have experience working with this data.
This workshop aligns with the conference theme by addressing how emerging data sources can drive positive societal change overcoming methodological and implementation challenges, making it a timely and relevant contribution.
The session aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and methodological innovation. Outcomes, including key insights and recommendations, will be synthesised into a summary publication to encourage the broader adoption and ethical use of MPA data in research for public good.
Workshop 1B: Data Donation: empower the public through sharing their personal data for health research
Organisers: Neo Poon & Laura Fryer, University of Bristol, Felicia Loecherbach, University of Amsterdam
Obtaining digital footprint data for research can be approached through various methods, including data donation, web scraping, and data partnerships, each presenting its own unique set of challenges. This workshop focuses specifically on data donation as a process of data collection and explores its significant impact on public and health research.
Data donation refers to the voluntary sharing of personal data (e.g., shopping history, fitness tracker activity, smartphone usage) to support research for the public good, particularly in the fields of population and health science. In the UK and EU, individuals can request that their loyalty card data from supermarket chains be sent to universities, leveraging the right to data portability under the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
With donated digital footprints data, researchers gain invaluable insights into lifestyle choices, associating everyday behaviours with health, economic outcomes, and societal trends. Analysing personal data collected through data donation opens up exciting possibilities for addressing important questions: how population health is influenced by daily movement, sleep patterns, medication use, and how these change in response to new interventions.
This workshop will explore the opportunities and challenges of using these innovative data sources through data donation to better understand their impact on individuals and society. We will start with an overview of how donated data have been used in public health research (10 minutes), showcasing recent projects, including self-medication behaviours, pain management, and labour market activity. The workshop will then feature a short presentation from Dr Felicia Loecherbach to illustrate alternative data donation frameworks and applications (10 minutes), providing participants a solid foundation for further discussion. Finally, our team will demonstrate a data visualisation tool that is designed to summarise loyalty card data (10 minutes), addressing issues related to transparency and public involvement in health data research.
After the presentations, we will transition into small group discussions (40 minutes), in which participants will engage in focused conversations around current questions relating to data donation in the context of heath research. These discussions will explore methodological challenges in using donated data in research, the potential obstacles of selection biases, and the roles of policy makers and governmental bodies in facilitating data donation. Privacy and security will naturally also be central to the conversation, as we examine how to ensure ethical data use while maintaining public trust.
Discussion Questions:
· What are the current biggest challenges we face as researchers adopting data donation techniques? How can we work as a community to overcome them?
· What is the impact of selection bias in the current data donation techniques and how can researchers overcome such bias?
· How can we improve data literacy, public engagement, and outreach tools focused on data donation to improve and maintain public trust?
· How can we go about standardising data donation procedures? (e.g. we need government to implement policies which industry needs to comply with)
To conclude, each group will share their key insights (20 minutes), fostering a collective understanding of the barriers in this emerging method. The workshop will wrap up with a discussion on potential funding opportunities and avenues for collaboration, paving the way for future research and building the foundation for a position paper.
Overview:
1. Data donation for health research (10 minute)
2. Novel Data Donation Framework - Dr Felicia Loecherbach (10 minutes)
3. Supermarket Loyalty Card Data - Public Engagement Tool Demonstration (10 minutes)
4. Breakout Discussions addressing current Data Donation Questions (40 minutes)
5. Group Feedback and Conclusions (20 minutes)
Workshop 1C: The Benefits and Harms of Self-Tracking: Can the Contextualisation of Digital Records Protect Users?
Organisers: Sahar Bakr and John Stuart
Wearable self-trackers (WSTs) are marketed as tools to improve health and fitness by encouraging users to ‘move’ more and take a ‘comprehensive’ look at their bodies' performance. These devices integrate hardware, software, and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to gather and process physical activity (PA), sleep, and other biometric data. They interact with users and generate outputs that track progress toward specific health goals. As such, the approach of WSTs to better health and fitness is heavily embedded in data quantification.
While much research has highlighted the benefits of WSTs, such as increased physical activity, concerns about user vulnerability to harms are rising, with media reports warning of obsession, anxiety, and eating disorders linked to their use. Scholars have acknowledged these potential harms, arguing that WST digital records, algorithms, and design features create pressure to self-monitor and decontextualise biometric data by reducing PA to numbers.
Concerns about consumer vulnerability in the face of digital technologies are increasing, yet little attention has been given to understanding vulnerable users in a self-tracking context. To advance the understanding of consumer vulnerability to potential harms, a differentiated view of self-tracking and the factors that heighten vulnerability is needed. In this workshop, we reflect on a recent study that applied practice theory to investigate the ‘dark side’ of WST use. This approach provides theoretical space to explore socio-material and individual factors shaping prolonged self-tracking and its outcomes.
In this study, we adopted a qualitative method, combining semi-structured interviews with visual stimuli. To create an immersive experience, we requested participants' self-tracking records spanning at least 12 months for use in interviews. These records were visualised in graphs and diagrams, and shown during interviews to prompt reflection and facilitate discussions about specific experiences. Sampling combined convenience and snowballing approaches, with thirty participants aged 20-72 years recruited. Following thematic and cross-case analyses, three primary user groups emerged: Experienced, Newly Fit, and Aspirers. These groups exhibited different associations with benefits and harms, based on their reflections on fitness knowledge and WST outcomes. We found that the ability to contextualise self-tracking records was key to mitigating harm. The Aspirers—those less knowledgeable about PA and arguably most in need of WST benefits—were found to be the most vulnerable to negative effects.
In this workshop, we will discuss both the benefits and harms of self-tracking, in light of this research, exploring potential for guidelines and regulations to safeguard users. We will also consider the potential for community-based or expert-led initiatives to improve the self-tracking experience and help users mitigate harm.
Structure:
15 min presentation by a guest (the benefits of self-tracking)
15 min presentation of my project (the dark side of self-tracking)
20 minutes open discussion/questions
40 minutes roundtable activity exploring ways to balance the benefits against harms (prompts will be shared with attendees, and the guest speaker will facilitate).
Workshop 2A: Smart Data Research UK Expert Panel: Building Public Trust
Organisers: Smart Data Research UK
Speakers/Facilitators
- (Panel moderator) Carly Walker-Dawson, Sciencewise
- Sam McGregor, Deputy Director, SDR UK
- Pete Stokes, Director of Platform Development, OpenSAFELY, University of Oxford
- Richard Syers, Principal Policy Adviser, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
- Octavia Reid, Associate Director, Ada Lovelace Institute
- Fay Skevington, Digital Strategy, AI in Education, Department for Education
Panel Discussion; 60 minutes:
- · 15 mins speaker intros and scene setting inc. short video
- · 25 mins discussion
- · 20 mins audience Q&A
Smart Data Research UK (SDR UK) is a UK Research and Innovation investment in digital infrastructure. It's a national programme to transform how we use data generated through everyday digital interactions, from smartphones to smart home devices.
Launched in 2023, the programme has established six specialised data services to provide safe and secure access to this valuable data. Enabling researchers to understand our world better and help solve pressing social and economic challenges.
Building public trust is an important part of our work. We are committed to being open and transparent and to involving the public as much as possible. We recently commissioned a public dialogue to:
- Understand people’s hopes and concerns towards smart data research for public good and the values and principles that underlie them.
- Understand people’s perceptions of what constitutes ‘public good’ and their priorities within this.
- Identify people’s expectations for ensuring that collaborations between publicly funded data scientists and private companies align with ‘public good’ and ethical principles.
- Understand people's expectations for the handling of their data by researchers and data services in line with their values and principles.
- Use the insight from the dialogue to inform the development of Smart Data Research UK and its data services and their public engagement work in the longer term.
At Digital Footprints 2025, we will present the findings of this foundational dialogue alongside our next steps. The session will feature our Public Engagement Oversight Group, which brought together diverse voices from academia, industry, regulatory bodies, and citizen advocacy. This panel will explore the implications of our findings for smart data research and discuss the broader theme of public trust.
The workshop will engage conference participants in critical discussions about:
- Building public trust in smart data research
- Balancing innovation with ethical considerations
- Public-private collaboration
- Ensuring responsible data governance
- Embedding public engagement in research infrastructure
This session will be useful for anyone working with smart data/digital footprints data - whether you're a researcher, work in government, or run projects that use people's data.
Workshop 2B: Social Data 4 Health: Using social data for health-related research in population and public health, social sciences, and the humanities
Organisers: Wellcome Trust / GovLab
Speakers and Facilitators:
- Hannah Chafetz, Research Fellow at The GovLab
- Adam Zable, Research Fellow at The GovLab
- Sara Marcucci, Research Fellow at The GovLab
- Romana Burgess, Senior Research Associate in Population Health at the University of Bristol
Social data–from call detail records to data from wearables to retail data–when re-used responsibly have the potential to accelerate innovative research that benefits society. Yet, more work needs to be done to understand this potential and identify opportunities where social data can be transformative.
Towards this end, The GovLab (a global action research center), with the support of the Wellcome Trust’s Discovery Research Team, is conducting a new initiative called Social Data 4 Health. The initiative is focused on how social data (or non-traditional data) can transform research on life, health, and wellbeing. We seek to provide an overview of how these data sources are being used across the globe and provide opportunities to unlock innovative discovery research.
During this 90-minute session, The GovLab will share the preliminary findings from this initiative followed by a short workshop to co-design funding recommendations for the final report. The session will begin with a 20-minute presentation from The GovLab team on the demand and supply of social data. The presentation will include topics such as:
- The types of social data, including digital footprints, emerging as valuable research resources;
- Innovative opportunities for social data use and re-use that could be transformative across diverse fields;
- Emerging methodologies, partnerships, and models that can accelerate impact; and
- Creating equitable access opportunities for researchers in low- and middle-income countries.
Romana Burgess, Senior Research Associate in Population Health at the University of Bristol will then provide reflections on The GovLab’s presentation. During her 15-minute reflections, she will also share her recent work on using shopping data for health outcomes. The remainder of the session will be an exchange with the audience facilitated by The GovLab team focused on co-designing new data initiatives, partnerships, and models to be included in the recommendations of the final report.
By attending in the Social Data 4 Health exchange, participants will be able to:
- Learn about the latest social data research and methods from interdisciplinary peers
- Showcase their own work to a wider audience
- Help shape our recommendations for funders and other stakeholders on developing particular research services and infrastructures