A prescription for privacy protection: Exercise caution when using a mobile health app

This article warns about privacy and security risks in mobile health (mHealth) apps, highlighting issues such as insufficient security practices (lack of updates, insecure protocols, weak authentication), excessive data sharing and tracking, and opaque privacy policies. It outlines relevant legal frameworks (GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA/CMIA) and offers practical steps for users to reduce risk—limiting shared data and permissions, avoiding social logins, enabling MFA, using strong passwords, and keeping apps updated—while noting heightened concerns around sensitive health data and the potential misuse of such data.