COVID-19 apps want user data, but few say they'll protect it

Of 50 worldwide COVID-19 apps analyzed in Nature Medicine, only 16 promised to anonymize, encrypt and secure the data they collect. A large portion of COVID-19 apps available in the Google Play Store ask users for advanced access permissions, but very few indicate to users that collected data will be made anonymous and secured, according to an analysis of 50 such apps published recently in Nature Medicine.

The investigation – conducted by two researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Illinois Informatics Institute – reviewed a sample of apps hailing from dozens of different countries around the world. Twenty of these offerings were issued by governments, health ministries or other official sources.

The researchers classified nearly half as informational tools, roughly a third as tracking tools, 10% as assessment tools and 8% as scientific research apps. Common features across these apps included live maps and confirmed-case updates, alert systems, direct-to-government symptom reporting and COVID-19 education. More specialized functions included device-connected vitals monitoring, contact tracing and virtual consultations.