A new report from the U.S. Center for Democracy & Technology examines the mobile health industry and the role of unintended bias and provides recommendations for developers and policymakers as the industry advances. The report states that while mHealth apps could improve health and wellness by increasing access to services, it warns that the “unintended bias in the algorithms and data that power mHealth apps might limit their effectiveness and uptake, especially for traditionally marginalized communities.” The report, Heal-gorithms, explores the potential for harmful bias, provides an overview of the mHealth marketplace, discusses the effectiveness of mHealth, examines how and why bias can be introduced, provides recommendations to mitigate bias, and reviews areas for future research.
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