Data Privacy in Healthcare Apps: What Should You Know

• Written by Mudit Handa

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From counting the number of steps you take in a day to checking your heart rate, healthcare apps today are like your doctor on call. These apps have indeed revolutionised the way we track health. As the industry continues to evolve, there’s an increasing demand for apps that offer users more seamless, personalised experiences tailored to the user’s unique needs.

A lot of these apps offer a range of valuable features, from easy access to medical records and medication reminders to symptom tracking and telemedicine services. These tools empower users to manage their health more efficiently and stay connected with healthcare providers, all in one convenient platform. However, along with offering unparalleled convenience, they also come with the critical issue of protecting sensitive data. As more people switch to digital solutions, it’s essential to understand the importance of data privacy and what’s at stake if things go wrong.

Why Data Privacy in Health Care Apps is Essential?

While there is no denying that healthcare apps make life easier, being aware of the other side of the coin is equally essential. Understanding the importance of data privacy and knowing the impact of deficient privacy measures on your personal data is crucial in today’s digital ecosystem.

To understand privacy concerns with health apps, it's important to first know what privacy means in this context. Privacy gives you the user control over your personal information, deciding who can see it and how it’s used. Privacy matters in health apps because they handle very sensitive data. This includes details about a person's medical conditions, treatment history, and lifestyle. If this information is misused, it can lead to problems like identity theft, discrimination, or unwanted access to someone’s personal life. That’s why strong privacy protections are crucial to keep users’ data safe and maintain their trust in health apps.

Understanding the Legal and Ethical Aspects of Privacy in Health Apps

The lucrative aspect of health applications has always been their features that provide unique ways to track everyday fitness. From daily steps and calories burnt to reminders on calories and water intake, these applications are smartly designed by developers. However, what raises a question about health app developers is their ethical standings while designing features that can monitor every activity of an individual so closely.

Additionally, they must ensure legal compliance while developing an application. On paper, these two aspects are approved to every bit.

What complicates and raises privacy concerns is the ever-developing tech space in different parts of the world. An application that might have passed the standards in a European country might not be fit for India but is widely being used by Indians.

Thankfully, there are laws like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) designed to safeguard the privacy of every individual in this digital era.

Health Apps and their Privacy Concerns

Each time you register with a health application, you are bombarded with personal questions like name, age, gender, ethnicity and whatnot. While it sounds obvious, given the purpose of mobile health apps, let’s take a look at privacy concerns and security risks with commonly health-used applications:

1. Fitness Tracker Apps

Fitness tracker applications are widely used by Indians and while these apps have numerous benefits in promoting healthier lifestyles and even earning rewards from insurance companies, the privacy concerns exist. These applications can penetrate the user’s mobile data, which has a wide purchasing market. The data can be sold to third parties for usage in ad ideas, policy designing and a lot more. It is on users to carefully read the terms and conditions before ticking the “I agree” box.

2. Period Tracker Apps

Period tracker apps know exactly when a woman is menstruating, ovulating or even missing period marks. This data is crucial for multiple companies to create target-based ads etc.

3. Weight Tracker Apps

Weight management is a concern for many Indians, and weight tracker apps have come in handy. However, in the absence of appropriate data privacy compliance, user information is used not only by the healthcare sector but also by the cosmetic and textile industry to promote pop-up ads accurately.

Did You Know that India has over 400 million users of digital health apps.

What Could Help?

Data privacy concerns have been surfacing in discussions everywhere. But does this mean that one needs to cut off health applications completely? No. Eliminating these applications would also mean cutting off healthier lifestyle choices. Hence, the focus is to find solutions by:

1. Prioritising User’s Privacy

A privacy policy is at the core of health applications as it works as an effective tool in safeguarding user’s personal information. Developers should emphasise that building applications that collect only those data is crucial for tracking fitness levels and ensuring their safety.

2. Legal Compliance

Although it is tough to keep up with technological developments, an update in legislation is the need of the hour. Additionally, it is up to developers to maintain legal compliance while designing new health applications.

3. Eliminating Misuse and Liability

A key feature in preventing data breaches and eliminating misuse is the terms and conditions of using a health app. The manufacturers of these applications can create a comprehensive list of information that can be collected if the user agrees to register themselves with the app. This reduces the liability of the company. As a user, it is important to read every term and condition of data collection before signing up for health apps.

To Conclude

Data privacy concerns are valid and need to be addressed carefully to create a safe space for every user and ensure their privacy, which is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Until updated legislation comes into the picture, as a smart user, we at Care Health Insurance urge that you go through the T&Cs of registering with a health application to enjoy its wide pool of benefits. Embracing emerging trends has become a norm for the healthcare sector, and by eliminating potholes like data privacy breaches, the future looks even more promising.

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