LONDON — Health and fitness apps have been harvesting sensitive personal data and passing it on to insurance and pharmaceutical companies, it has been reported.

The top 20 health and wellness apps, including MapMyFitness, Web MD Health and iPeriod, have been sending information to up to 70 third-party companies, according to privacy group Evidon.

The third parties — primarily advertising and analytics companies — use the information gathered from consumers who are tracking diseases, diets, exercise routines and even menstrual cycles to build profiles and target ads, the Financial Times reported.

Mr Jeff Chester, Executive Director of the Centre for Digital Democracy, said that it meant some of the “most sensitive details of your life” were available to others, reported The Daily Telegraph.

The apps companies, including Web MD, have denied that the information is personally identifiable or that it is being sold.

They added that the information was being used for site analysis and advertising within the apps, and companies are not allowed to combine the information with the gathered elsewhere.

Regulations prevent the tracking and selling of an individual’s specific prescription or medical records.

But some companies have been accused of attempting to bypass these restrictions by building health profiles from information on Web and mobile apps.

The health and fitness apps have seen an increase in popularity, and some companies offer them for free.

But Chief Executive of Evidon Scott Mayer warned: “If there is a lot of content that is being provided to you for free, data are driving the economy of that content.”

Data tied to mobile phone apps is catching up with the internet, he added. AGENCIES