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Assessment of the Data Sharing and Privacy Practices of Smartphone Apps for Depression and Smoking Cessation

Nathan E Botts / Tuesday, July 23, 2019

/ Categories: Personal Health Information, Data Sharing, Mobile Health & Health Apps, Privacy & Security

Assessment of the Data Sharing and Privacy Practices of Smartphone Apps for Depression and Smoking Cessation

An article from the JAMA Open Network

Importance Inadequate privacy disclosures have repeatedly been identified by cross-sectional surveys of health applications (apps), including apps for mental health and behavior change. However, few studies have assessed directly the correspondence between privacy disclosures and how apps handle personal data. Understanding the scope of this discrepancy is particularly important in mental health, given enhanced privacy concerns relating to stigma and negative impacts of inadvertent disclosure. Because most health apps fall outside government regulation, up-to-date technical scrutiny is essential for informed decision making by consumers and health care professionals wishing to prescribe health apps."

Findings In this cross-sectional study of 36 top-ranked apps for depression and smoking cessation available in public app stores, 29 transmitted data to services provided by Facebook or Google, but only 12 accurately disclosed this in a privacy policy.

Meaning Health care professionals prescribing apps should not rely on disclosures about data sharing in health app privacy policies but should reasonably assume that data will be shared with commercial entities whose own privacy practices have been questioned and, if possible, should consider only apps with data transmission behaviors that have been subject to direct scrutiny.

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Tags: Privacy Security health apps mental health depression FaceBook consumer health apps smoking cessation HL7 CMHAFF Google behavioral health

How to Protect Your Privacy as More Apps Harvest Your Data

A New York Times Personal Tech series article by Brian X. Chen

Retrieved By Health eConsultation / Wednesday, May 31, 2017 0 15555 Article rating: 5.0

In this article written by Brian X. Chen from the New York Times he discusses some of the potential ways in which mobile apps that you download to your phone may be collecting and using your personal data in ways you did not know.

One of the key takeaways is that there are ways in which to protect yourself and tools that can help you figure out which apps are collecting your data and how to remove their ability to do so.

Stay Private: How to Hide Your Webcam, Mute Your Mic, and Turn Off Notifications

An article from Zapier

Nathan E Botts / Wednesday, August 2, 2017 0 15489 Article rating: 5.0

One consideration as you gather and store more personal health information on your computer and devices is making sure that you are not inadvertently sharing this information (or some other aspect of your personal health) through your webcam or mic.

This article from Zapier outlines several different ways and some handy applications that can help you control this on your PC or MAC.

Determining the Value of Compromising Your Privacy

An article from Engadget

Nathan E Botts / Sunday, August 13, 2017 0 10482 Article rating: No rating

This article from the Engadget web magazine discusses how your online searching behaviors might be monitored by different companies that you are unaware about. This data is likely used to build profiles that may impact the advertisements you see, credit ratings received, and other potential social network aspects as of yet identified.

Sharing Your Electronic Health Record (EHR)

A Video from the NIH All of Us Research Program Channel

Nathan E Botts / Friday, October 27, 2017 0 12244 Article rating: 5.0

From the NIH YouTube Channel: Do you know what information is contained in your electronic health record (EHR)? Eric Dishman, director of the All of Us Research Program, explains what’s in your EHR and why the data is so valuable for researchers.

Sharing Sensitive Health Information: Protect Your Privacy and Improve Your Health

A guide from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Nathan E Botts / Saturday, March 31, 2018 0 54069 Article rating: 5.0

This 2-page ONC published graphic novel (aka comic book) is a short guide that helps illustrate why protecting your health privacy is important and issues to consider when sharing sensitive health information.

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Health eDefense is the act of protecting your personal health information. This not only protects your privacy, security, and safety, but also protects the data of your family, friends, and others in your community.

The Health eDefense platform is dedicated to providing consumers with actionable information on how to protect their personal health information effectively from cyber threats. Health eDefense provides informational content and education related to cyber security, privacy and consent, security, and related topics and policies such as HIPAA and GDPR.

Cyber security is impacting our daily lives, and our personal and protected health information is a target for hackers and criminals looking to make money off of our personal data. Your personal health data will always be about your health, demographics, social, lifestyle, financial history, and other related details. Once taken, they cannot be taken back.

We think the best cybersecurity tool is education and awareness, and we hope to provide users with tools and insight to protect themselves and their data better.