Terms & Conditions Focus Groups
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the accessibility and readability of terms and conditions for mental health apps
IRAS ID
254940
Contact name
Til Wykes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 24 days
Research summary
There is a growing market for healthcare applications on mobile devices, particularly in for mental health. Often, a significant amount of identifiable personal data must be given for these apps to work optimally. A Privacy Policy document serves as an important part of consent to the storage and usage of data by detailing how personal data is handled in the app, in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A user must click “I Agree” to give consent to this - working under the
assumption that they have understood the document. This becomes a problem when some apps do not provide these documents or they are too difficult to reasonably be understood by the general public. In previous studies, the readability level of privacy policies has been consistently found to be much more difficult than the recommended level for the public. While such documents are supposed to be ‘fair and transparent’ in according with National Health Service (NHS) guidelines, it is hard to say they can be when they cannot be easily understood. We will therefore investigate what makes Privacy Policies difficult to understand. Mental health service users aged 18 or older will be the focus of this study, as not only are they more susceptible to being overloaded with information, but it is also essential for them to be confident sharing personal information, so they can utilise apps in the most effective way.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NE/0340
Date of REC Opinion
25 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion