eHealth Week 2016: Trust and Standards - Main contents

This week, from 8 to 10 June, the European eHealth Week 2016 is taking place in Amsterdam. One of the main themes this year is trust and standards - a topic that plays a key role in the uptake of digital solutions for health and care.

The European eHealth Week 2016 co-organised by the European Commission, the Dutch EU Presidency and HIMSS Europe - brings together eHealth stakeholders from all over Europe and beyond.

The Commission has recognised the potential of eHealth in its second action plan. The benefits of eHealth come from data sharing and access to data. Respecting data protection is therefore crucial. Loss of control and trust in the online environment and insufficient awareness is an issue that we need to address: 75% of respondents in a recent Eurobarometer said that they have only partial or no control of their health data online.

Trust is also important when it comes to the use of mobile apps that monitor your health and give health advice. Health apps are becoming increasingly popular but as was revealed by the European Commission's 2014 mHealth Green Paper consultation, people often have a lack of trust in these mHealth apps. Respondents to this consultation considered that having users' consent as well as strong privacy and security tools in place is a crucial issue in relation to the use of mobile health apps. Of course, you do not want anyone to abuse your personal data for commercial gain when it comes to a sensitive topic like your health status.

What are we doing about this? The EU already has a robust and rigorous legal framework in place for data protection. A new Data Protection Regulation that was recently adopted reinforces individuals' rights and strengthens enforcement even further.

Yet, the legal requirements are not always easy to understand or to implement, especially for smaller companies and start-ups. To make it easier for app developers to apply the legal requirements in practice, a Code of Conduct on privacy for mobile health apps has been developed and has been submitted to the Member State Data Protection Authorities for their endorsement.

It is industry that, at the initiative from the European Commission, took the lead in developing this Code of Conduct, and industry will also transparently govern its implementation.

The Code of Conduct aims to provide easily understandable guidelines for app developers on how to respect and comply with EU data protection rules. This is important especially for SMEs and individual developers who may not have access to legal expertise.

The code covers issues like users' consent, purpose limitation, and privacy by design and by default, and security measures. It is a voluntary instrument. However, companies will be legally required to abide to it once they become signatories. I hope it will be in use soon and will help create mHealth apps that fully respect our privacy.