ReviewFrontiers in digital health2026
Using voice and speech data in healthcare: a scoping review of the ethical, legal and social implications.
Review in Frontiers in digital health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Perinatal Mental Health Detection and Prediction Using Mobile Sensing Data: Systematic Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- The epistemic economy of vocal biomarker startups: a qualitative interview study of data practices and governance.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human voice and speech, integral to personal identity and social communication, are increasingly used as biometric and digital biomarkers in healthcare. Their collection and analysis, enabled by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing, offer promising applications in disease detection and health monitoring. This scoping review examines the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSIs) associated with using voice and speech data in healthcare. Following a structured search of four databases and a snowball method, 65 articles published between 2009 and 2024 were analyzed. The findings are organized into three main ELSI categories: ethical concerns include privacy breaches, challenges of informed consent, and the need for data validation and respect for vulnerable populations; social issues highlight biases, representational disparities, and risks of discrimination and data misuse; legal issues include unclear regulatory frameworks, conflicting jurisdictional mandates, and challenges in defining data ownership. The review reveals that while many ELSIs mirror those of other biomarker data, the unique properties of voice and speech require adapted frameworks for consent, data governance, and privacy protection. Technological limitations, dataset scarcity, and industry-academic divides exacerbate risks and hinder equitable development. Few studies deeply explore ELSIs in underrepresented populations, and there is a lack of robust empirical research. The review argues for a contextualist, not exceptionalist, approach to voice biomarkers, acknowledging both overlapping and unique challenges. It concludes by stressing the need for harmonized regulations, inclusive datasets, and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure responsible, equitable integration of voice and speech technologies in healthcare.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.