If we told you that apps designed to better your mental health and spirituality are actually the leading causes of increased stress levels- would you believe us?
Yes, that’s the truth and it’s all thanks to a recent study conducted by Mozilla which highlighted the major concern.
According to the research, so many leading mental health applications have major cybersecurity issues, let’s not forget to mention how these are filled with shortcomings relating to user privacy too.
Mozilla has boldly outlined in its latest report how it has gone to great lengths to figure out which privacy features were being offered to all those users being tricked into getting the app in the first place. And it’s safe to say that the results are more than worrying.
The renowned Firefox browser company took into consideration a leading number of mental health apps like Calm, headspace, Talkspace, and even Prayer.com. They all are known to have a giant number of users and that coincides with their leading download figures. As you can probably imagine, the risk is plenty.
Out of the 32 apps studied, the report has labeled 29 of them as coming with labels that state, ‘privacy not included’. But despite the major warning attached, people continued to use them.
Other common issues seen involved great amounts of data collection, including shocking levels of personal data gathering. And while so many of these apps vowed to never pass on any personal details to other third parties, the study showed they were actually involved in doing the very opposite.
The worst app in this privacy offending venture included the likes of Talkspace. This app is known to collect users’ chat logs pertaining to their therapy. Similarly, it grabs a hold of personal details such as psychotherapy notes. This data is further transferred for research purposes or the app’s own marking and other purposes like advertising.
But Talkspace has denied the claims made by Mozilla, adding how the report failed in terms of providing any context of Talkspace. Moreover, it slammed the research for its major inaccuracies too and it hopes to have them solved with the company soon.
The app even went one step further to highlight how its privacy policies are always one step ahead of the rest. Therefore, they felt it was wrong of Mozilla to make such claims that are misleading.
Talkspace has even gone one step ahead and tried to add greater transparency to its privacy policy.
Meanwhile, another app in focus in the report included Calm. With millions of users from both iOS and Android, many expected far more from the app than the shocking results found in Mozilla’s research.
Not only did the report delineate how Calm was collecting so many users’ personal information, but they were also appalled to find how the app was busy tracking down data via outside sources. This came with the app making use of leading tools that were being used to collect data that would target advertisements while sharing details with other third parties.
The lead of the research, Jen Caltrider mentioned how the findings from these apps are beyond creepy and most of them had one thing on their minds- tracking users, sharing their personal information, and then capitalizing upon them.
Read next: Here's What Consumers Feel About Their Digital Privacy In 2022
Yes, that’s the truth and it’s all thanks to a recent study conducted by Mozilla which highlighted the major concern.
According to the research, so many leading mental health applications have major cybersecurity issues, let’s not forget to mention how these are filled with shortcomings relating to user privacy too.
Mozilla has boldly outlined in its latest report how it has gone to great lengths to figure out which privacy features were being offered to all those users being tricked into getting the app in the first place. And it’s safe to say that the results are more than worrying.
The renowned Firefox browser company took into consideration a leading number of mental health apps like Calm, headspace, Talkspace, and even Prayer.com. They all are known to have a giant number of users and that coincides with their leading download figures. As you can probably imagine, the risk is plenty.
Out of the 32 apps studied, the report has labeled 29 of them as coming with labels that state, ‘privacy not included’. But despite the major warning attached, people continued to use them.
Other common issues seen involved great amounts of data collection, including shocking levels of personal data gathering. And while so many of these apps vowed to never pass on any personal details to other third parties, the study showed they were actually involved in doing the very opposite.
The worst app in this privacy offending venture included the likes of Talkspace. This app is known to collect users’ chat logs pertaining to their therapy. Similarly, it grabs a hold of personal details such as psychotherapy notes. This data is further transferred for research purposes or the app’s own marking and other purposes like advertising.
But Talkspace has denied the claims made by Mozilla, adding how the report failed in terms of providing any context of Talkspace. Moreover, it slammed the research for its major inaccuracies too and it hopes to have them solved with the company soon.
The app even went one step further to highlight how its privacy policies are always one step ahead of the rest. Therefore, they felt it was wrong of Mozilla to make such claims that are misleading.
Talkspace has even gone one step ahead and tried to add greater transparency to its privacy policy.
Meanwhile, another app in focus in the report included Calm. With millions of users from both iOS and Android, many expected far more from the app than the shocking results found in Mozilla’s research.
Not only did the report delineate how Calm was collecting so many users’ personal information, but they were also appalled to find how the app was busy tracking down data via outside sources. This came with the app making use of leading tools that were being used to collect data that would target advertisements while sharing details with other third parties.
The lead of the research, Jen Caltrider mentioned how the findings from these apps are beyond creepy and most of them had one thing on their minds- tracking users, sharing their personal information, and then capitalizing upon them.
Read next: Here's What Consumers Feel About Their Digital Privacy In 2022
