The Limited Extent of Accreditation Mechanisms for Websites and Mobile Applications in Europe.

A potentially useful resource for health promotion and guidance is eHealth. However, this field also presents challenges, and one of the most important obstacles is the lack of regulation, without which citizens including young people may be exposed to misleading or risky information and applications. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of accreditation processes for mobile applications (apps) and websites in European countries, to determine whether regulation is on the agenda. A survey was conducted in 28 European Member States and 2 European Economic Area countries, between 2017 and 2018. Twenty-seven responses were collected. Six countries have accreditation processes for apps and eight countries have accreditation processes for websites. However, processes are fragmented and there is variety within and amongst countries.