Disclosure of privacy policies and information on the use of personal data, on health apps

Introduction: Evidence from online services shows that privacy protection is still an issue, and many app developers fail in the disclosure of a privacy policy or in its accuracy. Objective: To explain how the availability of the privacy policy of a health app and how the decision of an app to explicitly inform users on the use of personal data for micro-segmentation relate to diverse revenue sources, treating those variables as business strategic variables. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of health apps available in Portugal. We use logit and probit regression models to establish cause-and-effect relations between variables. Results: We found that if a health app is downloaded for free or if it includes in-app purchases, it will be more probable to have a privacy policy and that users are explicitly informed about the use of personal data. However, the inclusion of ads within the app is not relevant to explain both dependent variables. Conclusion: Disclosure of privacy policies and the use of personal data cannot be disconnected from the business model of the app.