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User interface language: English | Español

Date	May 2022	Marks available	3	Reference code	22M.1.SL.TZ0.1
Level	SL	Paper	1	Time zone	no time zone
Command term	Explain	Question number	1	Adapted from	N/A

Question

Medical data shared in online apps

Many people use smartwatches to monitor their vital signs and manage their health. Information such as heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature can be obtained from an app* like yourHealth on a smartwatch.

Figure 1: The yourHealth app and smartwatch

Some users of the smartwatch app are concerned that their privacy might be invaded.

* app: an abbreviation for “application”, a specialized program run on mobile devices, a computer, or other electronic device

The uniform resource locator (URL) for the smartwatch app in Figure 1 is https://www.yourhealthwatch.com/2020/03/export-data-yourhealth-watch-health-app.html.

Define the term privacy.

[2]

a.i.

Identify two ways the smartwatch and cellphone (mobile phone) could use to communicate with each other.

[2]

a.ii.

Outline one reason why protocols such as https are used in the URL to enable digital devices such as the smartwatch and cellphone to communicate with each other.

[2]

a.iii.

Explain why end-users should be involved in the development of software products such as the smartwatch app.

[3]

b.i.

Explain why the developers of software products such as the smartwatch app have an ethical obligation to potential users.

[3]

b.ii.

Many people use smartwatches to monitor their vital signs and manage their health.

To what extent should an individual use a smartwatch to manage their health?

[8]

Markscheme

Answers may include:

knowing who somebody is
… but not knowing what activities they are carrying out.
having control over one’s personal information
… such as the ability of individuals/groups to determine when, how and to what extent their personal information is shared with others (Guide p.21).

Award [1] for identifying privacy and [1] for an additional comment.

a.i.

Answers may include:

Bluetooth.
WiFi
Near field communication (NFC).

Award [1] for identifying each way that the smartwatch and the cellphone could use to communicate with each other up to [2].

a.ii.

Answers may include:

Protocols are a set of rules
… that provide an agreed framework/convention that enables devices to communicate with each other / that specify how information will be transferred using the URL.

Award [1] for identifying a reason why protocols such as https are used in the URL to enable digital devices such as the smartwatch and cellphone to communicate with each other and [1] for a development of that reason up to [2].

a.iii.

Answers may include:

End-users are able to provide an insight into how a product may function
… which may not be possible to obtain from in-house testing (alpha testing)
… as this may not expose the product to the range of situations it may be expected to function in
End-users are able to provide an insight into how a product may function
… and this could be considered to be beta testing
… this may make end-product more marketable / desirable to the end-user.
End-user testing can take place in the customer's environment.
… allowing them to use the program under normal conditions
… which may allow them to find “bugs” / features that need improving / discover new features and suggest these to the developers / which may lead to making the end-users more likely to use the finished product as they are involved in its development.

Award [1] for identifying a reason why end-users should be involved in the development of products such as the smartwatch app and [1] for each subsequent development of that reason up to [3].

b.i.

Answers may include:

Acting ethically means not causing harm.
… this may mean that certain features of the product will not be developed
… such as those that will have a negative physical or psychological impact, such as a tendency to become addicted to the device / notifications are left on as default settings / information is not shared with third parties without the consent of the user.

Award [1] for identifying a reason why the developers of software products such as the smartwatch app have an ethical obligation to the potential users and [1] for each subsequent development of that reason up to [3].

b.ii.

Answers may include:

Advantages:

Patients will be able to keep abreast of their vital signs / medical condition 24/7 (systems).
This can lead to them having less need to go to the doctors or to use valuable health resources if the condition is not serious (environment).
All the historical data may be captured (systems, ethics).
The data will be more comprehensive than if it is only collected in a consultation with a doctor.
Which may mean it is easier to discover/model trends / abnormalities.
Might allow users to better manage illnesses which can be controlled, like diabetes and high blood pressure (values/ethics).
Allows users to maintain a healthy lifestyle as their vital signs can show the benefits of healthy activity e.g., exercise, good sleep, eating well etc. (values).

Disadvantages:

The app might suggest treatments which are not appropriate if the user’s symptoms do not match the ‘average’ symptoms for a particular condition (data, systems).
Users of the smartwatch may become fixated by it, which could have negative effects such as white coat syndrome (values/ethics).
May be unreliable - may be lost or damaged or experience software bugs which make them unreliable (systems).
Technology in a smartwatch may not provide accurate enough readings for medical use (systems).
The user may not want to use the watch because they are worried about what might happen to the data which the watch generates i.e. could be sold to or shared with third parties / used against them by insurance companies or potential employers etc. (values/ethics).

In part (c) of this question it is expected there will be a balance between the terminology related to digital systems and the terminology related to social and ethical impacts.

Keywords: health, well-being, algorithm, accuracy, reliability, data, model, modelling, judgement, automation, change, power, systems, ethics, values

Refer to SL/HL paper 1, part c markbands when awarding marks. These can be found under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials > Digital society markbands and guidance document.