Health, Fitness Apps Sending User Data To Third Parties

Greg Slabodkin | FierceMobileHealthcare | September 7, 2013

The top 20 most popular health, wellness and fitness apps, including WebMD Health, are actively sharing user data with as many as 70 third-party companies, according to a blog post from web analytics and privacy group Evidon.

"These companies are typically advertising and analytics companies, who attempt to better match advertisements to users who will buy; and who work to help app developers increase functionality and usability, respectively," the author of the post contends. "It's a common practice for these companies to make these data available to whoever finds it valuable, however, so any number of companies may acquire this data eventually."

Evidon's findings were featured in a recent Financial Times article which revealed that the third parties often use the information gathered from consumers who are tracking diseases, diets and bicycle trip distances to build profiles or display personalized ads.