JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The global prevalence of mental health issues like depression and anxiety is escalating, yet access to high-quality services remains severely limited. Despite digital mental healthcare apps enhancing outcomes, their handling of highly sensitive personal data poses significant privacy risks.

Objective:

This study systematically investigates Chinese digital mental healthcare apps, assessing their quality and privacy policy compliance through an integrated framework of the Personal Information Security Specification (PI Specification) and Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS).

Methods:

A comprehensive search on Chinese IOS and Android platforms identified apps for evaluation by three independent reviewers. Apps were assessed for general features, professional context, functionality, and assessed the apps for privacy policy compliance and quality through the use of the Privacy Policy Compliance Scale and MARS.

Results:

Of 62 apps, 96.77% linked to privacy policies, 90.32% reminded users at login, but only 77.42% required explicit consent. Average privacy compliance was 69.6/100, highest for general features (89.07%) and lowest for information destruction (54.84%). Only 1.61% notified third parties upon logout. MARS quality averaged 3.80, indicating good overall quality. The degree of compliance with information sharing and transfer in privacy policies positively affects user engagement in terms of app quality (r = 0.25, P = 0.05).

Conclusions:

While privacy compliance in Chinese mental healthcare apps has improved, superficial PI protections, inadequate implementation, and poor transparency in data destruction persist. Strengthening compliance in information sharing can enhance app quality and user engagement. China should elevate privacy standards, emphasize their link to quality, and establish robust regulatory frameworks to sustain high-quality, privacy-focused mental healthcare apps.