Period tracking apps have sprouted up all over the app stores. But those apps might not be as private as users think. An investigation from a UK-based research group Privacy International found that some apps are sharing users’ personal information including details about a user’s cycle and even the last time they had sex — with social media giant Facebook.
The report found that most popular apps...
Google and the University of Chicago Medical Center are being sued for violating patients' privacy following a data-sharing partnership that the two parties inked two years ago.
A new class action lawsuit, which was first reported on by the New York Times, accuses the hospital system of sharing data with the tech conglomerate that could be identifiable, namely doctor’s notes and the time frame...
This week, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced legislation to strengthen privacy and security protections for consumers’ personal health data, specifically the data involved in DNA testing kits and health tracking apps.
WHAT HAPPENED
The Protecting Personal Health Data Act would require HHS to create standards to protect the sensitivity of genetic data,...
After creating dummy accounts on highly-rated Android medical apps and analyzing their traffic, an investigation published Wednesday in BMJ found that nearly four in five shared users’ data with outside entities. What’s more, the Australian research team determined that several of those groups receiving the user information would likely be able to aggregate the data and use it to pinpoint a...
Data privacy has long been a concern in healthcare, but the past year has seen consumers increasingly concerned about whether or not their devices are always listening. Speaking onstage at Health 2.0's Fall Conference this week in Santa Clara, California with Health 2.0 cofounder and EVP Indu Subaiya, Ricardo Prada, principal UX researcher at Google, said that his company is well aware of the...
From Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica woes to news of the first deaths attributable to autonomous cars, the tech industry has lately found itself engulfed in moral controversies.
Unfortunately, the health tech sector is no different. Just this year, multiple consumer exercise apps revealed classified GPS and identifying data through their APIs, genetic testing companies continue to grapple with...
With the percentage of smartphone ownership skyrocketing to around 77 percent in America, smartphones have become constant companions. Recently, mental health professionals have kickstarted the conversation about how smartphone usage can help gauge a patient's wellness and behavior.
Several apps have begun to emerge that will track a patient’s phone habits, behaviors, and even location through...
23andMe has emailed developers a warning that an API permitting use of anonymized customer datasets for third-party app development will be shut down in approximately two weeks, CNBC reports.
While the raw data will remain available to clinical research partners such as GlaxoSmithKline, which invested $300 million this year to gain access to the genetic testing startup’s DNA database for drug...
A security vulnerability affecting more than 3,000 mobile apps is exposing more than 4 million protected health records that include prescription details and sensitive chat messages, according to a report from mobile app security firm Appthority.
The opening — which also includes 2.6 million plaintext passwords and user IDs, 25 million GPS location records, and 50,000 financial records — is a...
With discussions on consumer data privacy again reaching a head amongst the lay press and lawmakers, it isn’t too far a stretch to wonder whether the data collected continuously through health and fitness wearables is receiving appropriate scrutiny.
During a wearables-focused panel discussion held yesterday at PULSE: The Atlantic Summit on Health Care in Boston, top names from Fitbit, Empatica,...
