Ethical aspects of the Internet of Bodies

Abstract

This article outlines bioethical issues related to the application of the Internet of Body (IoB) technology in health care so-called medical IoB devices. Manufacturers of medical IoB devices promise to provide significant health benefits, improved treatment outcomes and other benefits, but such IoB also carry serious risks to health and life, including the risks of hacking (cyberhacking), malfunctioning, receiving false positive measurements, breaching privacy, deliberate invasion of privacy. In addition, medical IoB products can directly cause physical harm to the human body. As human flesh is intertwined with hardware, software, and algorithms, the IoB will test our social values and ethics. In particular, IoB will challenge notions of human autonomy and self-government as they threaten to undermine the fundamental precondition of human autonomy. Thus, the protection of human autonomy should become the main ethical principle of the use of medical IoB devices.