Privacy advocates call out mobile health developers for ‘abysmal’ security protections

Health and fitness apps are blowing up. But before you download one, you might want to do a little digging into its privacy and security policies. According to a study released by the San Diego, California-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, many of the most popular wellness apps carry privacy risks for users.

The report, which evaluated 43 free and paid apps, found that many apps lack privacy policies, send information without encryption and transmit user data to third-parties (like advertisers, ad networks and analytics companies) without informing users. “Data security and privacy – from a technical standpoint – is abysmal,” said Beth Givens, founder and director of the privacy-focused non-profit.