SmartMoms Canada App

Disclaimer and Privacy Policy

This study is being conducted by researchers from the School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Science, University of Ottawa (the ‘UO’). The Principal Investigator, Dr. Kristi Adamo (the ‘Investigator’), leads the research team that developed the SmartMoms Canada mobile application (the ‘App’) for monitoring gestational weight gain and providing maternal health information. SmartMoms Canada is based on SmartMoms™ app originally developed by a team of researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC), a component of the Louisiana State University System (Baton Rouge LA, USA), and who retain the exclusive ownership of SmartMoms™. PBRC granted the Investigator and UO rights to adapt, change or make additions to the original code of SmartMoms™ to customize and create SmartMoms Canada for use in Canada, including but not limited to, the translation to include bilingual content and corresponding modifications to the user interface. The Investigator and UO retain exclusive ownership of the App.

This study was sponsored by the Minister of Health, through the Public Health Agency of Canada. The Investigator would like to acknowledge the final development work provided by Tactica Interactive.

The App is currently not being sold to individuals by the Investigator and UO. The App is only available to individuals who have provided their informed consent to participate in the SmartMoms Canada trials, through UO or an approved collaborative test site within Canada. The use of the App is enabled through a unique identifier provided to the confirmed participants in these trials.

Please read this Privacy Policy closely. We understand if you are like most people, you want your personal information protected, especially any information related to your health during this prenatal period. UO and the approved collaborative test sites, know collectively as the ‘Project Team’, have secured ethics approval, after undergoing a full review, by their respective institution Research Ethics Boards (REB) to conduct these trials. This includes maintaining and respecting the anonymity and confidentiality of the participants involved and protecting the data collected. For more information about the ethics process and review, please contact canadasmartmoms@gmail.com.

By using the App, you are giving us consent to collect, store, access, and disclose the data collected by the SmartMoms Canada app in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy will describe the following:

Data collection

Trial participant anonymity and confidentiality is very important for all REB approved human research trials. No personal identifiable information (i.e., full name, address, phone number) will be collected when you login for the first time and during the general use of the App. The only personal information required at login specifically for the App will be your date of birth, height and pre-pregnancy weight, which are required to determine your gestational weight gain recommendations throughout your pregnancy. Also, the App will ask for your unique identifier, first name (or name to be used with the app), due date, estimated initial activity level, and confirmation of a singleton pregnancy. Individuals who are not having a singleton birth (i.e., twins) will not be used as participants in this study. The SmartMoms Canada app will not have any access to the personal information on your electronic device (i.e., phone), such as your contacts and pictures.

The SmartMoms Canada app is to be used in conjunction with two external WiFi enabled devices that will be provided to you as part of this trial: an activity tracker (Fitbit, Charge 2) and a scale (Withings, Body+). The use of these devices will require you to login to their associated applications, the Fitbit app and Health Mate app, by installing them on your device (if required) and using an existing account or create a new account for each app. When you complete the login requirements for the SmartMoms Canada app, you provide permission for the App to synchronize with your Fitbit and Withings accounts. The following information, jointly referred to as ‘the Data’, will be collected:

FitBit – the App will pull and display step counts, active minutes, heart rate, nutrient intake calculated by your food logs, and sleep information, as measured by your Fitbit device. Please visit Fitbit’s privacy policy for more information on what data are collected by your Fitbit device, how it is collected, and used: https://www.fitbit.com/ca/privacy.

Withings – the App will pull and display body weight measurements when you step on the scale (Body+) or when you manually insert values into the Withings Health Mate app. Please visit Withings’ privacy policy for more information on what data are collected by your Withings device, how it is collected, and used: https://www.withings.com/ca/en/legal/privacy-policy#/ca/en/legal/privacy-policy.

The Data stored through your interactions with the use of the Charge 2 and Body+, and the App, will be done automatically. In addition, the App will allow for the indirect collect, for analytics purposes, but not linked to specific participants, the type of mobile device being used, the unique device ID, the IP address of the mobile device, the mobile operating system, and the type of mobile Internet browsers, along with information about the general App usage (i.e., page hits, use counts of the overall app). The Data collected during this study will be analyzed and reported for the overall averaged group of participants and never as single participants.

Who has access to the Data

The UO research team led by the Investigator has access to the Data. Only those individuals directly involved within the study will have access to the Data at UO. Individual data applicable to a specific test site will be shared with that respective lead researcher at that collaborative site (as indicated in the Informed Consent), with the overall general participant data shared between the researchers at all approved sites for analysis, reporting and publication purposes.

UO may disclose the Data to other organizations when (1) required to by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process; or (2) when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

Also, UO may use outside, trusted individuals and development companies to help us deliver, maintain and support the SmartMoms Canada app and server throughout the trials, and who, in this capacity, may have access to the Data. Appropriate administrative measures will be used to protect the access of the Data, including non-disclosure agreements, between UO and the app and server development team.

Where is the Data stored

The App data is stored within the secure University of Ottawa network on a server created specifically for the SmartMoms Canada trials. Data will also be transferred from the server to computers used by the study team within the same UO network system. All computers and network drives will be password protected and have controlled access. UO will transfer relevant data to their collaborative test sites who will also be required to follow their appropriate guidelines and ethics requirements concerning the storage and maintaining the privacy of participant data records.

How we protect and secure your data

We are committed to safeguarding the confidentiality and anonymity of your data. Firstly, all individual data stored will only be indicated by the unique identifier assigned to each participant. Secondly, UO and our collaborators provide physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect information we process and maintain. For example, we limit access to this information to authorized research members and contractors who need to know that information in order to operate, develop or improve the SmartMoms Canada app. In addition, UO and our developers employ industry best practices in terms of data in transit and stored on the server. Please be aware that, although we strive to provide reasonable security for the information that we process and maintain, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches. Furthermore, information sent or received over the internet is generally not secure and may be intercepted, lost or altered.

How long is the Data stored

The SmartMoms Canada server will be shut down and erased 6 months following the completion of the trials. The Data transferred within the UO network to the Investigator’s research drive will be housed for 10 years following the completion of the project at the University of Ottawa, when it will be destroyed in accordance with UO REB guidelines. Collaborative sites will follow their respective REB guidelines for when the Data located within their secure systems is destroyed (typically between 5 and 10 years).

What if you decide to withdraw from the study and want your data deleted

Participation in this research study is completely voluntary. Individuals can withdraw, stop using, and uninstall the App from their electronic device at any point during or immediately after their participation has ended. At the request of the participant, all individual data will be deleted or erased and removed from the study by the research team. The only data that cannot be deleted is the general app usage data collected, which is not tied to a specific user.

Changes to our privacy policy

We reserve the right to revise this privacy policy at any time and will notify study participants on the App or through email contact. We will not reduce your rights or make any changes that will compromise your contribution without your consent in accordance with applicable law. Changes related to how we use the information provided by the user will be relayed to you through email. Prior versions of the privacy policies will be kept for your review.

How you can contact us

If you have any more questions after reading this Privacy Policy or any questions related to the SmartMoms Canada App and trials, please contact the UO research team at canadasmartmoms@gmail.com or 613-562-5800 x1003.

For concerns or questions about the ethical aspects of this study, you may contact the Protocol Officer for Ethics in Research at UO at 613-562-5387 or ethics@uottawa.ca.