(BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, NOVEMBER 20) — Health-related cybersecurity breaches and ransom attacks have skyrocketed more than 4000% – from 18 incidents in 2009 to 745 in 2023 in the United States only, targeting a booming market of body-centric data expected to exceed $500 billion by 2030, according to new research from Mozilla Fellow, Júlia Keserű.

Keserű’s research, "Skin to Screen: Bodily Integrity in the Digital Age”is part of her senior Fellowship project at Mozilla; the fellowship brings together experts working to advance openness and accountability in AI and promote an ethical, responsible, and inclusive digital environment.

The research examines the collection of what Keserű calls “body-centric data” which has experienced a dramatic surge since the COVID-19 pandemic and with the rise of sophisticated AI tools. Body centric data includes information about people’s biological and psychological characteristics — from fingerprints used to unlock phones and face scans for security to intimate data from fitness and fertility trackers, mental health apps, and digital medical records. However, this expansion also fuels significant risks: breaches in health data, widespread surveillance, discrimination, and exploitation by AI-driven systems have exposed major gaps in existing legal protections.

The research also features a survey conducted by Keserű, which confirmed widespread public anxiety about body-centric data sharing, with most respondents feeling "betrayed" and "exploited" by unauthorized data sharing. While users value health-related benefits and are willing to donate their data for scientific research, they expressed significant anger and fear about their data being used for profit without their consent, especially in sensitive contexts like mental or reproductive health." Most participants demanded stronger controls and protections, and a lot more transparency in how their data is handled by companies.