A Commentary Privacy as a Struggle: Increasing Privacy by Reducing Cognitive Dissonance in Research Data Management

This commentary explores the challenge in sport and exercise science: balancing
the use of commercial wearable tech with concerns over privacy, surveillance, and
data breaches. While these devices provide valuable data for researchers, recent
privacy debates create uncertainty and hesitation. The commentary states sports
scientists are not the main cause of privacy risks from commercial wearable tech.
Instead, these risks stem from weak regulation and oversight of data companies,
shifting responsibility from researchers to broader political and structural factors.
Building on this, the manuscript presents “privacy as a struggle” as a useful
framework for sport science data management. It argues that researchers can
experience cognitive dissonance when using commercial wearables: they recognise
their scientific value yet feel ethically uneasy about privacy risks. This tension
may discourage better data practices, as they see privacy risks as unavoidable
or as personal blame. The manuscript links cognitive dissonance theories with
critical views on privacy and data management in sport science. It views privacy
as a social and political issue requiring collective action, safeguards, and reform,
rather than just an individual or technical problem. This shift from blaming
individuals encourages researchers to adopt better privacy practices, transparent
data handling, and ethical stewardship. The commentary is relevant to sport
science, digital health, wearable tech, and research ethics, adding a practical
perspective on managing privacy challenges in data-driven research.