Mozilla: These Mental Health, Prayer Apps Don't Have Your Privacy in Mind
Mozilla has updated its Privacy Not Included buying guide with information about 32 apps related to mental health, and unfortunately, the findings are unlikely to bring anyone peace of mind.
The update covers popular meditation apps like Calm, Headspace, and Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame; therapy apps like Better Help, Talkspace, and Modern Health; and prayer apps like Pray.com, Glorify, and the King James Version Bible app offered by iDailybread.
Mozilla applied the "privacy not included" label to 28 apps in this category. The four exceptions are Wysa, PTSD Coach, Headspace, and Glorify. Of those, only Wysa and PTSD Coach received a thumbs-up. Headspace received a neutral rating.
Glorify—which counts Michael Bublé and Kris Jenner among its investors—received a thumbs-down because of how it can use your information to serve up targeted ads, though Mozilla stopped short of slapping the "privacy not included" label on it.
More information about specific complaints is available via the Privacy Not Included buying guide. In some cases Mozilla is concerned about the amount of data these apps collected and how that information is used; in others the organization is more worried about lax security.
Some of the practices Mozilla highlights, such as sharing information with advertising partners or combining data from external sources, are common for mobile apps. But the sensitive nature of mental health apps makes these practices and policies even more concerning than usual.
Consider this complaint about Better Stop Suicide: "Better Stop Suicide's privacy policy is bad. Like, get a failing grade from your high school English teacher bad. Take the second sentence in the privacy policy, 'Contact us at if you have any questions or
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