A recent study of popular health apps found “numerous” shortcomings in the privacy and data protection of user data, MobiHealthNews reports. To be included in the study, the app had to be free, in English, downloaded more than 100,000 times, and require users to input health or personal data that would be transmitted to a third party. The researchers wrote that the majority of the apps failed to follow “well-known practices and guidelines, not even legal restrictions imposed by contemporary data protection regulations, thus jeopardizing the privacy of millions of users.” Meanwhile, HealthITSecurity reports that a recent survey shows half of organizations cite security and privacy concerns as a leading factor for why mobile and digital health tools are not more widespread. 
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