Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Oct 6, 2018 - Dec 1, 2018
Date Accepted: Feb 9, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Why reviewing apps is not enough: Transparency for Trust (T4T): The Principles of Responsible Mental Health App Marketplaces
ABSTRACT
The overselling of mental health apps which may provide little benefit and some potential harm needs the mental health community’s immediate attention. With little formal regulation, a light touch approach to consumer protection is now warranted to give customers a modicum of information to help them choose from the vast array of “so-called” mental health apps. We suggest four guiding principles that should be adopted to provide the consumer with information which can guide their choice. We call these the Transparency for Trust (T4T) principles which are derived from reviews about patient concerns. They are: privacy and data security, development characteristics, feasibility data, and benefits. We suggest that app stores should take some responsibility and collect this information and store it with any app marketed as a health app. Even the absence of information would provide consumers with some understanding and fuel their choice. This would also provide some commercial impetus for app developers to consider such information from the outset.
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