Research — a new Apple application collects user health data for scientific research

Users will be able to choose which information to share. Apple representatives promise that only research groups will have access to user information.

Research is an app available on iPhone and Apple Watch, which can collect data on user heart activity, menstrual cycles, and hearing. The developers offer users the opportunity to voluntarily participate in research by offering access to their data. All information is passed on to research centers in an anonymized format.  

After the app is installed and the user grants access to data collection, the app starts processing information from smart watches and smartphones before sharing it with researchers in an anonymized format. 

Heart activity data will be processed by the American Heart Association and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The WHO and the University of Michigan will study the effects of noise pollution. Finally, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the National Institutes of Health will use the supplied data to study women’s health and menstrual cycles. 

The company will grant absolute confidentiality to users sharing their data in the app. The data will only be accessible to Apple partners, and users will be able to select the types of data that they wish to share.