Analysis of Diabetes Apps to Assess Privacy-Related Permissions: Systematic Search of Apps

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Mobile Health (mHealth)
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Mobile health apps are crucial for diabetes management.
• Existing reviews focus on features, not privacy compliance.
• There's a significant gap in understanding diabetes app privacy risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• Assess privacy levels of mobile apps for diabetes.
• Raise awareness among users, developers, and regulators.
• Identify privacy vulnerabilities in diabetes applications.

Main Methods:

• Developed a semiautomatic search module for Android app privacy data.
• Analyzed dangerous permissions requested by apps.
• Included 497 diabetes apps after applying selection criteria.

Main Results:

• ~60% of apps requested dangerous permissions, posing privacy risks.
• 28.4% lacked a privacy policy website.
• 40% contained hidden advertising, exploiting user data.

Conclusions:

• Educating patients and providers on app privacy is essential.
• Governments must enforce strict data protection laws.
• Enhanced security protocols and stakeholder supervision are needed.