Independent Investigation of 108 COVID-19 Mobile Apps Reveals Privacy and Data Security Concerns
An independent investigation of worldwide COVID-19 mobile apps found that several widely-used apps pose privacy risks to worldwide users.
The International Digital Accountability Council’s (IDAC) investigation, conducted over the last two months, reviewed 108 global COVID-19 mobile apps across 41 countries to understand whether consumer personal data is being used responsibly.
The investigators analyzed how apps collect personal data, what data the apps collect, what third parties receive data from these apps and other data issues, to identify concerning practices with app users’ reasonable expectations, privacy laws, and platform policies.
While IDAC’s team did not find egregious or willful developer misconduct, the investigation revealed several instances in which apps fell short of best privacy practices and posed potential risks to users.
“If responsible steps to rein in the pandemic and reopen our devastated economy require changes in how much information people share about their health and movements, the public should be able to trust that their data will be used responsibly,” said Quentin Palfrey, President of IDAC.
“Smartphone apps offer promising tools for collecting data about users’ contacts and sharing that information with public health authorities. Our analysis shows that many of these tools employ good privacy and security measures, but that some apps did not follow best practices relating to transparency, security, and data-sharing with third parties.”
With COVID-19 apps offering a range of services, IDAC divided its investigations into four categories based on the apps’ main functions and descriptions in the Google Play Store: contact tracing, telehealth, symptom checkers and quarantine administration.
The International Digital Accountability Council is an independent watchdog created to improve digital accountability through international monitoring, investigation, education and collaboration with online applications and platforms. This report was developed in partnership with the Future of Privacy Forum, Good Research, App Census, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. More information about IDAC can be found at www.digitalwatchdog.org.
