Data Mining in the Cloud? Revisiting the Sociology of Digital Health Platforms

Recent work in digital sociology has shown interest in health platforms as site for intensification of government and value creation. Work by Srnicek (2016) on ‘platform capitalism’ proposes a new typology of online platforms, and argues that they exist to gather data as the new raw material of global capitalism. In empirical studies of the largest health platforms, especially those focussed on research which have captured most sociological attention, researchers have described the promissory discourses that encourage ordinary people to store and share personal health data, including that produced by self-tracking (e.g. Sharon 2016, Van Dijck and Poell 2016). This paper draws on analysis of a more extended set of platforms using interviews with commercial and policy actors, ethnographic observations of digital health events and ‘walkthroughs’ (Light 2016) of devices, to examine the multiple logics shaping their development - beyond the search for data. Health monitoring helps companies embed their products and services in everyday life producing engagement from ‘activated’ consumers. At the same time, platforms appeal to governments/health care providers hoping that digital solutions will reduce future spending. Seeking greater specificity around the different platforms and the markets in which they arise, and drawing on recent work in Science and Technology Studies, we suggest that health platforms participate in the negotiation of ‘care’ and care needs at domestic, local and national levels, despite their apparent global reach. The paper argues for an appreciation of the heterogeneous logics and forms contained within commercial attempts to establish and expand digital health platforms as emerging information infrastructures.