![]() This is alarming, given the recent reports on Internet surveillance and unwanted commercialization of user data by network operators. Turning to communication security, we observed a considerable fraction of mHealth app communications on unsecured flows, even when transmitting sensitive user data, such as location and password. 8, 9 (The dataset and analysis scripts are available at )ĭespite the advantages over the non-mHealth baseline, mHealth apps are still far from offering robust security guarantees. 7 In addition, concerns around the security of mHealth apps are particularly topical due to the sensitive type of information such apps collect and access and the potential risks associated with data breaches or tampering. Many mHealth apps offer no validation measures of effectiveness from the medical standpoint, 6 and a range of potential safety issues has been identified. While the potential of mobile health to improve real-time monitoring and access to healthcare resources is well established, 4, 5 mHealth apps can pose serious risks to users. 2 Reflecting the growth of this app segment, recent guidelines of the US Food and Drug Administration formalized the use of mHealth apps for healthcare and recommended to consider those providing aid to patients or clinicians as medical devices. Referred to collectively as mobile health (or mHealth) apps, these encompass a range of functions, spanning from chronic condition management and symptom checkers to step/calorie counters and period trackers. Breaking these by category, we note 2 popular, mutually exclusive categories of Medical and Health & Fitness apps. ![]() ![]() As of late 2020, there were approximately 2.56 million apps 1 available on Google Play alone. With the steady growth in populations having access to smartphone devices, we have witnessed an explosion of mobile applications (in short, apps) available through various online marketplaces.
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