Games are fun! According to the folks at Superbetter -- an app that uses games to fight anxiety and depression -- games can also help improve our mental health. Seems they have science on their side according to a number of studies . The app is free to download and use, and is targeted at everyone over the age of 13, particularly teens, young adults, and educators working with young people. The apps is designed to help people dealing with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and concussive symptoms build resilience to deal with their daily challenges. Level up, power up, and go on quests. Users get rewarded for doing things like drinking water, going or a walk, or giving yourself a hug. It sounds rather fun. What's their privacy like? Well, there are a few red flags for us, but not as many as other apps we reviewed.
O que pode acontecer se algo der errado?
First reviewed April 20, 2022. Review updated, April 25, 2023
It seems in 2023 SuperBetter's app is "all new," at least according to their website. Their updated privacy policy does still raise some concerns for us. Now SuperBetter says they can use your personal information for marketing purposes, "In order to support the SuperBetter business and provide our users with relevant information regarding the Service and opportunities presented by partners, SuperBetter may use your personal information for marketing the Service."
SuperBetter also says they can collect information about your from other sources and combine that with information they collect on you. That's not uncommon these days. It also does concern us because are they buying data from data brokers to build a bigger profile on you? The way their privacy policy is worded, is seems that could be the case.
All in all, we have to say that SuperBetter's privacy practices feel like they've gotten a little worse since 2022. That's not great, especially for an app targeted at educators and used by young people. SuperBetter isn't bad, it's also not better, and probably a bit worse, in 2023.
Read our 2022 review:
Good news. Superbetter says they will never, ever sell you personal data. Yay! They do share data with third parties for research and advertising purposes, but it seems to be mostly anonymized data, which is generally ok. Although it's been found to be rather easy to de-anonymize some such data. All in all, it's probably OK to gamify your life with Superbetter without worrying too much about losing the privacy game...we hope.
One big thing to consider when using Superbetter is what you share publicly. Superbetter states in their privacy policy, "To protect your privacy, you agree that you will not submit any User Content that contains Personally Identifiable Information (like name, phone number, email address or web site URL) of you or of anyone else." This is a great reminder, anything you share publicly, even your health information, is fair game for anyone to use. One more reminder from Superbetter, things you share on the internet can live on forever. They say, "You should be aware that it is not technologically possible to remove each and every record of the information you have provided to SuperBetter from our servers."
What's the worst that could happen? Well, hopefully not too much. Yeah, you might see some ads targeting you for water bottles to help you drink more water because you use Superbetter. Our biggest worry is we couldn't confirm if Superbetter meets our Minimum Security Standards. We emailed them our privacy questions multiple times at the email listed in their privacy policy for privacy-related questions and didn't get any answers to our questions. So remember as Superbetter says themselves, "there is always some risk that an unauthorized third party may find a way around our security systems or that transmissions of your information over the Internet may be intercepted." Data leaks and hacks happen everyday on the internet folks. Be careful out there.
Dicas para se proteger
- Do not log in using third-party accounts
- Do not connect to any third party via the app, or at least make sure that a third party employs decent privacy practices
- Do not give consent for sharing of personal data for marketing and advertisement.
- Choose a strong password! You may use a password control tool like 1Password, KeePass etc
- Do not use social media plug-ins.
- Use your device privacy controls to limit access to your personal information via app (do not give access to your camera, microphone, images, location unless neccessary)
- Keep your app regularly updated
- Limit ad tracking via your device (e.g. on iPhone go to Privacy -> Advertising -> Limit ad tracking) and biggest ad networks (for Google, go to Google account and turn off ad personalization)
- Request your data be deleted once you stop using the app. Simply deleting an app from your device usually does not erase your personal data.
- When starting a sign-up, do not agree to tracking of your data if possible.
Pode me bisbilhotar?
Câmera
Dispositivo: Não aplicável
Aplicativo: Sim
Microfone
Dispositivo: Não aplicável
Aplicativo: Não
Rastreia localização
Dispositivo: Não aplicável
Aplicativo: Não
O que pode ser usado para se inscrever?
Sim
Celular
Não
Conta de terceiros
Sim
Google Login, Apple Login and Facebook Connect are available
Que dados a empresa coleta?
Pessoal
Location, name, address, date of birth, email.
Relacionado ao corpo
Social
Como a empresa usa esses dados?
Como você pode controlar seus dados?
Qual é o histórico conhecido da empresa na proteção de dados dos usuários?
No known privacy or security incidents discovered in the last 3 years.
Informações de privacidade infantil
Este produto pode ser usado offline?
Informações de privacidade fáceis de entender?
Links para informações de privacidade
Este produto atende aos nossos padrões mínimos de segurança?
Criptografia
Senha forte
Atualizações de segurança
Gerencia vulnerabilidades
Superbetter told us, "We have an internal system for managing security vulnerabilities. We do not offer bug bounties." We have to trust them on this.
Política de privacidade
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Randomized Controlled Trial of SuperBetter, a Smartphone-Based/Internet-Based Self-Help Tool to Reduce Depressive SymptomsMary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers
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