Today I was knocked out of my socks when I read this article: http://www.cnet.com/news/feds-say-skin-cancer-apps-are-deceptive/
The article brings up a good point about mobile apps. We would hope this would be understood without government oversight, but apparently it is not. The main point is: be truthful with what your app is offering, and what it can actually do.
In this case, developers of apps that supposedly detected melanoma for a user have been found to be giving out false data. Namely, their app had not testing to show the apps worked as claimed they would.
In this case, falsifying claims of what the app can do may have disastrous consequences for users. This is wrong both ethically and business-wise. First off, they are dealing with people’s health and livelihood. This is not something that should be marginalized, nor falsified, as it may have big time real world consequences. Business-wise, this will hurt overall, as the users won’t trust future apps by the same company.
We at Liberty Fox take pride in being ethically above this tactic. We make sure our clients apps do not make unfounded claims, and that they can do what they say they can do. We stand by this statement!
