Ethical and embodied perspective on the digital health related baby-tracking and monitoring technologies

We live in an age of intense measurement where metrics, data and quantification have become routine aspects of everyday life. A significant impact of this trend is observed in an ongoing technological evolution in health management, which among other things include at home monitoring of babies – an activity in which parents (and other caregivers) use various technologies to monitor, track and record aspects of a baby's life for the main purpose of promoting her health. While many existing studies focus on the technical and design aspects of these tools, this project offers a novel, experience-based, and ethically grounded perspective on their at-home use by parents.

The project combines survey research on the current use of baby-monitoring technologies in Latvia with phenomenologically grounded qualitative studies involving in-depth interviews with both parents and healthcare providers. The research findings will be analyzed in dialogue with existing literature in bioethics, phenomenology, and public health, and will inform the development of experience-based and ethically sound guidelines for digital health policy makers.

The project consists of three work packages: WP1 Data collection, WP2 Data analysis, and WP3 Theorizing, contextualizing and exploiting research findings.

Results

• 2 scientific publications
• Participation in 7 international conferences
• 2 articles in popular magazines
• Video material
• Digital health technology assessment tool
• Recommendations for digital health policy developers

Project Achievements

Project updates by 31 October 2025

Research progress

Work is currently underway on the first research activity (WP1) – “Data Collection.” A detailed data collection plan has been developed, which includes: 1) a quantitative survey questionnaire in Latvian; 2) guidelines for semi-structured interviews with Target Group A – parents or other caregivers of babies (aged 0–2 years); 3) guidelines for semi-structured interviews with Target Group B – experts related to digital health, including healthcare professionals, data protection specialists, IT company representatives, and digital policy makers; 4) informed consent forms for the qualitative study for Target Group A and informed consent forms for the qualitative study for Target Group B.

The online survey “Use of Monitoring Devices and Mobile Applications in the Care of Babies (0–2 years)” has been tested and prepared for implementation on the Microsoft Forms platform.

On 23 October 2025, the RSU Research Ethics Committee granted approval (2-PĒK-4/1027/2025) for the implementation of both the quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interviews with parents and experts) studies. At the end of October, interviews with Target Group A (parents or other caregivers of infants) have started.

In parallel with the development of the data collection plan, a literature review has been conducted, summarizing and analyzing research from various disciplines on: 1) the analysis of baby tracking technologies (theoretical and empirical studies); 2) the phenomenon of quantification (theoretical studies); and 3) the analysis of baby monitoring technologies (theoretical and empirical studies).

Conferences and lectures

The 10th International Conference of the Central and East European Society for Phenomenology (CEESP) – “Phenomenology and Technology” – was organized by me (together with Uldis Vēgners and Raivis Bičevskis) and hosted in Riga, at Kalpaka Boulevard 4, from 3–5 September. A conference paper titled “Digital Care: A Phenomenological Reflection on Baby-Tracking and Monitoring Technologies” was presented at the same event. The abstract is available on the conference website.

An online guest lecture titled “Phenomenology and Public Health” was delivered on 15 May as part of the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) “Practical Knowledge in Philosophy 2025” (Cluj-Napoca, Romania).

I have been invited as a keynote speaker at the symposium “Phenomenology and Practical Knowledge”, which will take place on 21 October 2026 at Södertörn University, Sweden.

Training

I participated in two training courses organized by the Social Research Association (London), which were essential for preparing the quantitative part of the study (the survey). On 17–18 June 2025, I attended the online course “Web Survey Design,” and on 26–27 June 2025, I attended the online course “Questionnaire Design.”

Public Engagement Activities

Participation in the 2025 European Researchers’ Night event at RSU – “How Ethical a (Technology) User Are You? – An Interactive Test” (26 September): Facebook link.

On 19 August 2025, an episode of the RSU Social Sciences Research Centre podcast “The Research Blend” titled “Postdoc on Phenomenology of Health Care” was recorded, discussing the approach used in the research project.