Samsung Requirement to Use Health Data for AI Training Sparks Controversy

As smart wearables become more widespread, concerns are mounting over the limits of technology companies' collection of private data for artificial intelligence training. South Korea's Samsung Electronics recently updated the terms for its Samsung Health app, requiring users to consent to the use of sensitive health information—including sleep, medication and menstrual-cycle data—for AI training and modeling. The move prompted strong concerns among users worldwide about privacy protections and their right to choose.

Between July 10 and 13, 2026, several users found that rejecting the terms triggered a warning that their cloud health data would stop syncing and be deleted in full, sparking a major backlash. Samsung Electronics issued an urgent clarification on July 14, saying ambiguous wording in the app notification had caused a misunderstanding. The company said AI authorization was a separate option and that declining it would delete only data designated for AI training, without affecting routine health records or cloud synchronization.