Healthtech applications handle deeply personal data like diagnoses, mental health insights, menstrual cycle details, and daily behavioral logs. What’s often invisible to users is the third-party code embedded into these apps. Software development kits (SDKs) for analytics, engagement, crash reporting, or monetization frequently siphon, transmit, or store sensitive data without adequate safeguards. 

In the U.S., many health apps fall outside the scope of HIPAA and are instead governed by emerging state-level consumer health data (CHD) laws such as Washington’s My Health My Data Act (MHMDA), California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), Nevada’s SB 370, and more. These laws are raising the bar for privacy expectations and placing enforcement pressure on businesses that don’t monitor third-party data flows. Without strong governance, third-party SDKs may silently compromise privacy, and with it, consumer confidence. 

The 5 Common Privacy Gaps in Healthtech 

In their justifiable attempt to prioritize speed, scalability, and feature-rich user experiences, businesses often end up ignoring privacy engineering. This is especially an anxious situation for Healthtech given that here, unchecked and unmonitored SDKs harm user privacy in the most intimate ways. Here are some of the issues that Healthtech businesses are currently facing. 

Unvetted ThirdParty SDKs 

Many healthtech apps integrate SDKs for analytics, engagement, or monetization, yet developers infrequently conduct thorough vetting. Recent large-scale analyses found numerous widely used Android SDKs exfiltrated data, lacked clear policies, and over-collected beyond stated purposes. 

Weak Data Minimization Practices 

Healthtech SDKs often receive blanket access to all user data. In mental health and symptom tracking apps, developers granted such access even to highly sensitive fields, making third parties privy to emotional or medical details. 

Poor Access Controls 

Sensitive inputs, like symptom logs or biometric readings, often aren’t isolated from third-party code. Some SDKs function with the same access permissions as internal modules, increasing risk.  

Vague or One-Time Consent 

Users may agree to data sharing upfront but lack a real understanding of who receives their data, how often, or for what downstream uses. Embedded tracking libraries frequently operate without fresh or informed consent. 

Lack of Ongoing Monitoring 

Once an SDK is embedded, most teams don’t track its outbound data flows. There’s often no alerting, logging, or visibility into what sensitive information is being transmitted elsewhere over time. 

See how Truyo is helping healthcare organizations adopt AI ethically and compliantly

How to Guard Against Third-Party Data Leaks 

With the state-level CHD laws redefining privacy expectations, compliance is no longer about checklists but active governance. Healthtech companies must go beyond standard data security protocols and proactively monitor how third-party tools interact with sensitive data. From transparent disclosures to real-time audits and consent design, several practical steps can help maintain both legal defensibility and user trust. 

• Conduct Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) before integrating SDKs. Empirical studies show fewer than 15% of mental health apps performed PIAs or made them publicly available 
• Limit SDK access via scoped permission to ensure that third-party libraries cannot access unneeded sensitive fields. 
• Encrypt and segregate sensitive inputs from any analytics tooling or SDKs. This is especially applicable for biometric or symptom-related data. 
• Offer granular, informed consent flows, rather than one-time blanket opt-ins, will clearly specify which SDKs share data and for what purposes. 
• Implement ongoing monitoring by using static and dynamic analysis tools to detect unexpected data exfiltration and alert when SDK behavior changes 

Conclusion 

In healthtech, third-party SDKs can silently expose deeply sensitive user data. This will erode the consumer trust and invite regulatory scrutiny as well. Healthtech teams take steps to protect users’ privacy. This will require not only technical diligence, but also clear, user-centered policies and vendor monitoring mandates. For information on how Truyo is helping healthcare organizations adopt AI ethically and compliantly, click here or reach out to hello@truyo.com.