Apple launches research app to let users enrol in health studies

Apple Inc on
Thursday launched an app that will let users of its devices to enroll in three
health studies, allowing them to share health-related data for medical
research.

People who download the research app would be able to enroll in studies including Apple Women’s Health Study, Apple Heart and Movement Study and Apple Hearing Study, the company said in a study.

The studies
are conducted in partnership with research institutes, including Harvard T.H.
Chan School of Public Health and the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences.

After
enrolling, participants using Apple Watch and iPhone can contribute useful data
around movement, heart rate and noise levels, captured during everyday
activities, from taking a walk to attending a concert.

Users can
also control the type of data they wish to share with each study.

The move
comes at a time when big technology companies are pushing deeper into
collecting health-related data of their users.