Exploring the need for a suitable privacy framework for mHealth when managing chronic diseases

The widespread rises in chronic illnesses (e.g., diabetes and high blood pressure) have resulted in the need to find more efficient ways of managing patients with these conditions. One such way is by the use of mobile health (mHealth) technologies that can gather real-time data from patients and monitor them from a distance, removing the need to be at a medical facility. These technologies can be an integral part of intelligent healthcare environments (e.g., smart homes to monitor and assist elderly patients) which are essential to reducing healthcare costs and improving efficiency. The use of mHealth, however, brings various privacy concerns and challenges. This paper reviews and examines the challenges of preserving user privacy in the context of using mHealth to manage chronic diseases. The paper first discusses mHealth, its importance in managing chronic diseases, and the associated privacy concerns. Second, the paper compares the existing privacy frameworks applicable to mHealth. Third, the key principles gathered from the frameworks are analysed in the context of their suitability for enabling adequate privacy when using mHealth for managing chronic diseases. Finally, the paper argues that a new privacy framework is needed for mHealth in the context of managing chronic diseases.