Australian and US researchers looked at 36 top-ranked apps for depression and smoking cessation and found 29 of them were transmitting data to Facebook or Google, but only 12 made that clear in a privacy policy. Behavioural-change apps are now being prescribed by doctors and other medical professionals, and it should be assumed that they are sharing data with the tech giants, say the authors. They recommend only prescribing apps that have been carefully scrutinised to make sure they are not sneakily sending all your data to Google and Facebook.
Journal/conference: JAMA Network Open
Link to research (DOI): 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.2542
Organisation/s: Black Dog Institute, The University of New South Wales
Study Examines Privacy Policies, Data Sharing of Popular Apps for Depression, Smoking Cessation
Bottom Line: This study looked at the privacy practices of popular apps for depression and smoking cessation. Researchers assessed the content of privacy policies and compared disclosures regarding data sharing with commercial third parties to actual behavior for 36 apps.
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