AI mHealth apps lack transparency in privacy policies and data use


 A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) raises serious concerns regarding the privacy standards of AI-powered mobile health (mHealth) applications. Researchers analyzed the privacy policies of numerous popular iOS health apps that integrate artificial intelligence features. The findings reveal a widespread lack of transparency: many apps fail to explicitly disclose how user data is utilized to train machine learning models or whether sensitive health information is shared with third-party AI vendors.


The opacity of these policies poses a significant informed consent issue. Users often believe their data remains local or private, unaware that it may be aggregated to refine commercial algorithms. The study calls for stricter regulatory oversight and standardized labeling for AI-enabled health apps, ensuring that consumers can clearly understand the data trade-offs involved. For clinicians recommending these tools, the findings serve as a reminder to vet the privacy practices of digital health interventions rigorously before prescribing them to patients.

Read the original article at: https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article-abstract/32/10/1581/8219440?redirectedFrom=fulltext



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