Columnist Alun Newman: 'Biohacking is not a victimless pursuit'
Have you heard of biohacking? Biohacking is when you have, potentially, too much information about your current health.
If you go back to the Tokyo Olympic Games, new technology was emerging and they were able to give thousands of people pedometers for the first time.
However, what would be the point if there were no target or goal?
How could you show off in front of your friends, or at the very least have a share-and-compare moment? That’s when they decided that 10,000 steps a day seemed about right - a nice round number.
As far as I know, there’s no medical data to support the idea of 10,000 steps. There’s plenty of data that says: “Get your heart rate up every day!”
That pedometer was the birth of biohacking, and it has come on leaps and leaps and leaps, probably 10,000 of them.
Now you can wear a ring to give you constant medical information on a second-by-second basis.
Your smartphone will amaze you by telling you that on your last shopping trip to London you did over 16,000 steps - no wonder your legs are aching.
There are even new devices that claim to read the atomic makeup of your breath. One puff and it turns out you need to eat more doughnuts (sadly, that has never happened).
I’m not convinced all this data would bring me freedom and happiness. I’m the sort of person who could easily fixate on the bell curve of data from my day’s heartbeat information.
I would bore people by showing them, “Look, this is when I’m sitting down at work. Have a look at Saturday’s data. I went for a walk…”
There is nothing remotely interesting about that. It’s as dull as someone telling you about a dream they’ve had, or worse still, someone detailing their Couch to 5K journey.
Your own biodata is your own business. For me, the less I know, the better, otherwise, I'll end up having a competition with myself that I never win - or I'd cheat. And I'd always find out.
Sonia has a smartwatch that can do multiple things. Outside of biohacking, it can answer calls (like Star Trek), you can see emails wherever you go (how is that handy?), and you can pay for things with your wrist (that actually does look useful, but I worry I’d buy things without knowing).
There is, however, a personal downside. My wife’s watch can tell her how her sleep has been and the quality of it. This again is up there with stories of Couch to 5K or someone telling you they’re vegan.
The watch has to be worn at night, obviously, to collect the data. Every time my wife moves, the watch lights up and it is very bright indeed.
Although Sonia is fast asleep, every now and then it blasts bright light into my eyes. It’s quite shocking - you either feel like you’re being burgled, or interrogated, or if you’re half dreaming you think you’re about to be hit by a train.
Biohacking is not a victimless pursuit. You might be getting great, monitored, improved sleep… while at the same time terrifying your partner.