ABOUT THE eWELLNESS APP
If you wish to participate in the uTECH study, you will need to install an app called “eWellness” on your phone, where it will remain active and collect data for 12 months. Here is some information on what this app does and does not do. After reading this information, if you have questions, please reach out to our study team by email (utech@g.ucla.edu) or phone (310-882-9758)
The eWellness App DOES collect:
- Keystrokes: letters and numbers that you type into your phone’s keyboard
- The time and date of information you type into your phone’s keyboard
- The name of the app you’re using when you’re typing in an app
- The name of the website you’re using when you’re typing on a website
- Your geolocation
The eWellness App DOES NOT collect:
| · Photos/Camera | · Accelerometer |
| · Video | · Drop-down menu selections |
| · Emojis* | · Barometer |
| · Audio/Microphone | · Battery |
| · Text-to-speech | · Bluetooth |
| · Address book contacts | · Gyroscope |
| · Screen time tracking | · Gravity sensor |
| · Text messages (incoming) | · Magnetometer |
| · Phone log | · Proximity sensor |
| · Installation logs | · Scheduler |
| · Network sensor availability | · Temperature |
| · Rotation sensor | · Wi-Fi |
| · Telephony | |
| · Time zone |
* Any data that isn’t typed directly into your phone using the phone keyboard.
A Note about App Permissions
During the eWellness app installation process, your phone may alert you that the app needs permission for a variety of functions. These permissions allow the app to work properly. However, the app does not collect any information except keystrokes, time/dates, and what browsers and apps you use (see above). Let’s look at the permissions you may receive in more detail:
- “Allow eWellness to access photos, media, and files on your device?”
This permission is necessary for the app to temporarily store the keystroke data before it is uploaded to our secure, encrypted server at UCLA (more info below in “HOW THE uTECH STUDY PROTECTS YOUR DATA”). The app does not access any of your personal photos, media, or files.
- “Allow e-Wellness to have full control your device?” (includes: “View and control screen” and “view and perform actions”)
This permission is necessary to access the keystroke data. Typically, this permission is used with apps that have accessibility services, such as where the phone helps you type using speech. With the eWellness app, we will only be using part of this function to access keystroke data and will not control your screen or perform any actions on your behalf.
HOW THE uTECH STUDY TEAM PROTECTS YOUR DATA
Your privacy is of the utmost importance to the research team. In order to protect and secure your personal data gathered through the eWellness app and ensure your data remains anonymous, we will take ALL of the following actions:
- Your name and personal information are not connected to any of your data. At the beginning of the study, you will receive a subject ID, which will be used for all data collection.
- Your keystrokes data will be kept on a secure and encrypted UCLA server that is only accessible by the approved research team.
- All members of the UCLA research team have received certifications on research ethics and the protection of human subjects’ data.
- All sensitive data that is captured by the app will be deleted and replaced with an anonymous tag. For example, any website passwords you type into the keyboard will be replaced with “TOKEN_PASSWORD”; phone numbers will be replaced with “TOKEN_PHONENUMBER,” etc.
IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE STUDY OR WISH TO WITHDRAW
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. If you have any questions about this study, please contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. Ian Holloway at 310-825-7840. If you choose to withdraw from the study, just let us know, and we will delete all of your information, and, if requested, any data that was collected by the eWellness app.
ABOUT UCLA HHIPP
UCLA Hub for Health Intervention, Policy and Practice seeks to connect the academy, community and policy makers to address health disparities among diverse communities in Los Angeles and beyond. We seek to engage community members in meaningful, impactful, theory-driven, and sustainable research that informs high-level policy and street-level social justice health outcomes. UCLA HHIPP’s work situates health policy within a social welfare and social justice framework. We espouse a broad definition of health and wellness with special consideration given to adverse social conditions, stigma, discrimination, poverty, racism, and homophobia.