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The news:The FTC agreed on a policy requiring app makers capturing sensitive consumer data and health records to inform the FTC, US consumers, and in some cases, the media in the event of any security breaches.
Failure to comply could result in companies $43,792 daily fines per violation.
For context, this policy is over a decade old—but this week, the FTC agreed on a new policy statement affirming health apps and wearables must comply with the rule, since it wasn’t being enforced and was misunderstood by most companies.
Why it matters:Developers released thousands of digital health apps last year alone, most of which have the ability to collect and share sensitive user data.
More than 90,000 health apps were released last year (around 250 per day), according to IQVIA’s new Digital Health Trends 2021 report.
And most of the digital health apps on the market are subject to data breaches, considering 88% of mobile health apps have the ability to collect and share user data, per IQVIA.
But—consumers may not care about data breaches as much as the FTC does: About 60% of US wearable device consumers 14+ say they’re not concerned about the privacy of their data collected by smartwatches or fitness trackers, per a July 2021 Deloitte Connectivity and Mobile Trends report.
This means consumers aren’t likely to stop using a wearable device or health app if it’s been involved in a data breach.
So, digital heath vendors will want to comply with the FTC mandate to avoid the hefty fines: Failure to notify users or the media of a data breach could result in over $500K in fines after two weeks of noncompliance alone, for example.
Report watchlist:We’ll drill into how consumers view their healthcare privacy data in 2021 in our upcoming report, Healthcare Data Privacy 2021: Providers Race Against Ransomware, publishing this week.