iscover
Share this article on:
Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
Apps and IoT health and wellbeing devices are a potential minefield of safety and security issues.
Researchers at several UK and European universities are on the cusp of publishing research discussing a troubling lack of security and privacy features in prominent apps and IoT gadgets designed to promote health and wellbeing among women.
According to researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, Newcastle University, University of London, and ETH Zurich, “femtech” – the catchall term for these apps and internet-connected gadgets is capable of collecting a large amount of personal data – collects swathes of data, including fertility and health data, period-related data.
However, the sector is poorly regulated throughout Europe and the UK despite being a big business. The global femtech market is expected to be worth more than US$75 billion by 2025 and covers products such as fertility tracking apps, smart bottles, sex toys, and digital pill organisers.
What’s worse, hackers are actively targeting the sector to mine its vast wealth of data.
“We have identified multiple threat actors interested in femtech data such as fertility and sex information,” said Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad in an article authored by Royal Holloway.
“We have been conducting security and privacy research on this topic since 2019. Apart from our system studies, our user studies also highlight that end-users are indeed concerned about their intimate and sensitive data being handled by femtech products,” Mehrnezhad said.
“We constantly share our research results with the industry and related regulatory bodies, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office. We hope to see better collaborative efforts across the stakeholders to enable the citizens to use femtech solutions to improve the quality of their lives without any risk and fear.”
Professor Mike Catt of Newcastle University urges regulatory bodies to “update and strengthen” their guidelines on femtech products to keep the sector and its customers safe.
“Some specific permissions, such as access to system Settings and other Accounts on the device, also impose security and privacy risks. Access to sensors on the mobile phone can also be used to break user privacy,” Professor Catt said. “Users deserve better protection, especially where this relates to sensitive personal health and gender data.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
Be the first to hear the latest developments in the cyber industry.
