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Effect of Health-App Privacy Education on Privacy Protection Practices among Young Adults Using Health Applications in Nigeria

Abstract

The increasing use of mobile health applications has created new opportunities for health information management, health monitoring, communication, and access to digital healthcare services. However, health applications may collect sensitive personal and health-related information, creating potential privacy and data-security concerns for users. Young adults who use health applications may be exposed to privacy risks through weak passwords, excessive application permissions, insecure networks, unauthorized access, inappropriate sharing of health information, and limited understanding of privacy policies and data-protection settings. Health-app privacy education provides an opportunity to improve users' knowledge of digital health privacy risks and promote appropriate practices for protecting personal health information. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of health-app privacy education on privacy protection practices among young adults using health applications in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Technology Acceptance Model, Protection Motivation Theory, and Health Belief Model. The Technology Acceptance Model explains how perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of privacy and security features may influence users' willingness to adopt appropriate privacy-protection practices. Protection Motivation Theory explains how perceived privacy threats, perceived severity of potential consequences, response efficacy, response costs, and self-efficacy may influence users' motivation to protect their personal health information. The Health Belief Model explains how users' perceptions of susceptibility to privacy breaches, perceived severity of privacy risks, perceived benefits of privacy protection, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence privacy-related behaviours. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how health-app privacy education may influence privacy protection practices among young adults in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise young adults aged 18–35 years who use mobile health applications in selected urban and semi-urban communities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, communities, institutions, and eligible health-app users. Health-app privacy education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to privacy education sessions, frequency and duration of education, knowledge of health-app privacy risks, understanding of privacy policies, awareness of application permissions, knowledge of secure password practices, awareness of two-factor authentication, understanding of secure device use, knowledge of safe network practices, awareness of data-sharing settings, knowledge of health-information confidentiality, and understanding of appropriate responses to suspected privacy breaches. Privacy protection practices will be assessed using indicators such as use of strong and unique passwords, activation of available security features, regular review of application permissions, restriction of unnecessary access to personal information, careful review of privacy settings, avoidance of sharing sensitive health information through insecure channels, use of secure internet connections, regular updating of applications and devices, secure device-lock practices, careful selection of health applications, and appropriate reporting of suspected privacy violations. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, digital health privacy knowledge assessment tools, privacy-protection practice instruments, scenario-based questions, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' demographic and digital-use characteristics, health-app usage patterns, previous privacy education, digital health literacy, and privacy protection practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of health-app privacy education on privacy protection practices. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, privacy-protection practice scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that health-app privacy education has a significant positive effect on privacy protection practices among young adults using health applications in Nigeria. Young adults exposed to structured and practical privacy education are expected to demonstrate improved knowledge of digital health privacy risks and greater adoption of appropriate privacy-protection practices than users without comparable exposure. Education may improve users' ability to review application permissions, configure privacy settings, create stronger passwords, activate security features, protect their devices, identify potentially unsafe applications, and make informed decisions about sharing health information. Practical demonstrations using commonly available health applications and realistic privacy scenarios may further improve users' confidence in protecting their information. However, complex privacy policies, poor awareness of data-protection rights, convenience-driven behaviour, limited digital literacy, inadequate security features in some applications, and low concern about privacy risks may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects continuous, practical, accessible, and user-centred health-app privacy education, supported by stronger privacy features and improved digital health governance, to contribute significantly to improved privacy protection practices among young adults in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on digital health privacy, health applications, digital health literacy, data protection, privacy behaviour, mobile health, patient confidentiality, health information security, health promotion, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Information Technology Development Agency, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, digital health providers, healthcare organizations, mobile health developers, universities, youth organizations, public health practitioners, technology professionals, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening privacy protection among digital health users. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating health-app privacy education into digital health programmes, improving public awareness of health-data protection, promoting secure application use, strengthening privacy-by-design practices in health applications, improving transparency of privacy policies, and developing sustainable digital health privacy education programmes for young adults across Nigeria.

Keywords: Health-app privacy education, privacy protection practices, young adults, health applications, digital health, health-data privacy, digital health literacy, data protection, mobile health, Nigeria, public health.