Health Privacy Overview
Learn how the Health app and HealthKit protect your privacy
May 2023
Contents
| Introduction ....................................................................................................3 |
| Privacy by design............................................................................................3 |
| End-to-end encryption...................................................................................4 |
| Syncing your Health app data ...............................................................................4 |
| Third-party app controls ................................................................................4 |
| Requirements for apps using HealthKit................................................................4 |
| On-device processing and controls ...............................................................5 |
| Health Records ...............................................................................................5 |
| Health Sharing................................................................................................6 |
| Sharing with healthcare providers ........................................................................6 |
| Improve Health &Activity...............................................................................7 |
| Conclusion ......................................................................................................7 |
Apple's privacy principles
Data minimization
We use innovative technologies and techniques to minimize the personal data that we, or anyone else, can access.
On-device processing
We minimize data collection by processing as much of your data on your device as we can, rather than sending it to a server.
Transparency & control
We help you better understand the data being collected so that you can make your own choices over who you share that data with and how it's used.
Security
Security protections, such as end-toend encryption, are the foundation of privacy.
The first time that users with twofactor authentication and a passcode launch the Health app, they learn about how their data is protected.
Introduction
The Health app makes it easy for you to access your health and fitness information and provides you with meaningful insights to live a healthier life. It brings together over 150 different types of health data from Apple Watch and iPhone, authorized third-party apps and devices, and connected healthcare providers. HealthKit securely stores your health and fitness information and lets you control each health data type read from and written to the Health app.
As people live more of their lives online, they're sharing more personal data than ever. The proliferation of data has been accompanied by a dramatic rise in attacks on data. The overwhelming majority of breaches involve sensitive personal information.
Nothing is more personal than your health information, so we built the Health app and HealthKit with privacy in mind from the beginning. Apple builds software that protects this data and puts you in control of which data is stored in the Health app and which data is shared with third-party apps and people you trust.
Privacy by design
There are four privacy principles that inform everything we do at Apple: data minimization, on-device processing, transparency and control, and security. We built each of these four pillars into our Health features from the beginning.