On the privacy of mental health apps: An empirical investigation and its implications for app development.

ABSTRACT: An increasing number of mental health services are now offered through mobile health (mHealth) systems, such as in mobile applications (apps). Although there is an unprecedented growth in the adoption of mental health services, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns about data privacy risks due to security breaches are also increasing. Whilst some studies have analyzed mHealth apps from different angles, including security, there is relatively little evidence for data privacy issues that may exist in mHealth apps used for mental health services, whose recipients can be particularly vulnerable. This paper reports an empirical study aimed at systematically identifying and understanding data privacy incorporated in mental health apps. We analyzed 27 top-ranked mental health apps from G

SUBMITTER: Iwaya LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9643945 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature