An OMRON blood pressure monitor app shared users' location data with a third party. Users were not aware of this. BNR announced this based on its own research.
Users can use the app, called OMRON connect, to store their medical data. Worldwide, the app has been downloaded more than 3,000,000 times. According to the news channel, millions of people are said to be tracked several times a day. How many people in the Netherlands use it, OMRON would not say.
The manufacturer of the blood pressure monitor did not seek permission from users. It did not know, it says, that location data was being collected and shared. According to OMRON, San Mateo-based software company OneSignal would be responsible for sending push notifications.
"If this information does not add anything to the use of an app, this data storage is not really justifiable," responds Tim Heijltjes of Z-CERT, the Computer Emergency Response Team for Dutch healthcare. OMRON has since announced it will stop collecting location data.