Your data can improve health research
Every day, we leave behind a trail of digital information when we interact with technology — our “digital footprints.” This could be the steps tracked on your smartwatch, how you spend your money, or even posts you share online.
When people donate their data, they voluntarily share this information with researchers to help answer important questions about health: this is called data donation. By contributing your data, you can help researchers spot patterns, identify risk factors for disease, and develop strategies that improve public health for everyone.
It’s always your choice to donate your data, and your privacy is protected.
One key example of digital footprints is shopping data, collected by supermarket loyalty cards when you do your shopping.
Shopping data can tell us what you buy, when you bought it, how much it cost, and more. Using this information, we can look for patterns in diet that help us explain different aspects of health. For example, what medicines people are buying to treat the common cold, or how people’s dietary preferences change with the seasons.
This video explains how your shopping data can be used for health research.
Why this matters
Sharing your data helps make research better and public health stronger. By donating your shopping data, you:
- ✔ Contribute to public health knowledge – your data helps inform health strategies that benefit everyone.
- ✔ Help researchers to spot patterns in health and behaviour – using data from lots of people means that researchers can see overall trends.
- ✔ Improve evidence-based policy and interventions – findings can help the government to make better decisions for communities.
Want to learn more about how your data is used and protected?
Explore our resources to find more information about what we do.
Safety & Privacy
Your data is safe and private. Read more about the measures we take to protect it here.
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