Health and fitness apps have changed the way we exercise, eat, and even sleep. Hundreds of thousands of these diverse apps exist — more than 165,000 at last count.
While these apps are serious about counting our calories, and tracking our sleep cycles, very few of them take security as seriously as they should. An incredible 90% of mobile health apps have seriously risky security vulnerabilities. Given the wealth of valuable health and personal information these apps can contain, this is troubling — the app that’s smart enough to count users’ steps, or remind them to take their blood pressure meds, may be leaving these users (and their personal information) vulnerable to hackers.
If that wasn’t enough, a study from the Future of Privacy Forum found that only 60% of health and fitness apps had privacy policies; compared to 76% of general apps.
What implications does this have for those of us developing health and fitness apps for a loyal and trusting user base? Are we putting consumers in danger if they use our apps to keep a food log or monitor their REM sleep cycles? How can we keep our customers’ information safe and private, while still offering top-notch digital tools for their fitness and wellbeing?
Continue reading %Why We’re Fearful of Health and Fitness App Security%
by Xuyen Bowles via SitePoint
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