Do Algorithms Dream of 'Data' Without Bodies?

Abstract

The question whether algorithms dream of “data” without bodies is asked with the intention of highlighting the material conditions created by wearables for fitness and health and underlying assumptions of the platform economy regarding individuals’ autonomy, identities and preferences and justifications for intervention under the General Data Protection Regulation The article begins by highlighting key features of platform infrastructures and wearables in the health and fitness landscape, explains the implications of algorithms automating, what can be described as “rituals of public and private life” in the health and fitness domain, and proceeds to consider the strains they place on data protection law. It will be argued that technological innovation and data protection rules played a part in setting the conditions for the mediated construction of meaning from bodies of information in the platform economy. If data protection rules are to provide a democratic and sustainable system not just for corporate elites, there is an urgent need to reassess how best a just and democratic society can benefit from the lexicon of classification, standardization and reification of persons by the algorithmic hand driving the platform economy - l'esprit algorithmes.

Keywords: Algorithms, Data Protection, Health, Privacy, Platforms, Wearables

JEL Classification: K2, L1