FreeStyle LibreLink

Is FreeStyle LibreLink safe?

Yes, for privacy and security it is one of the better health apps we have scored. FreeStyle LibreLink turns your phone into the reader for Abbott's FreeStyle Libre glucose sensors and sends readings to Abbott's LibreView cloud, where your clinic can see them. Neither app store shows tracking or sharing with ad firms, and in the US Abbott handles the data under HIPAA. We score it 71/100, just behind MyChart (74) and ahead of healow (69).

The bigger safety question for most users is not data but accuracy. In November 2025 Abbott corrected millions of Libre 3 sensors that could show falsely low glucose, and FDA classed it as a Class I recall, its most serious type.

Which app do you need?

In the US, FreeStyle LibreLink now works with the older 10-day and 14-day sensors. Abbott's newer Libre app, launched in 2025, covers every Libre sensor except the original 14-day one, and has many more ratings on the App Store. LibreLink still gets updates (version 2.13.1 in April 2026). Abbott's privacy notice covers LibreLink, the Libre apps, the LibreLinkUp follower app and LibreView together, so most of this page applies to all of them.

What Abbott collects and where it goes

Apple's label for LibreLink lists health, contact, user content and identifier data linked to you, all for app functionality. Location, identifiers, usage and diagnostics are collected for analytics but not linked to you. There is no "Data Used to Track You" section. On Google Play, Abbott says it shares no data with other companies.

The September 2026 privacy notice adds detail. LibreView runs on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or CROC, with servers in North America, Europe, Russia, the UAE and Asia-Pacific depending on where you live. Outside the US, Abbott uses de-identified data for research only if you opt in, and with your opt-in can use your profile, sensor start time, frequency of use and glucose information for marketing. De-identified research data stays with Abbott after you delete your account, and can go to outside researchers and health authorities.

For US users, the notice says data shared through Libre products "may be protected" by HIPAA, under the Abbott Diabetes Care Notice of Privacy Practices. That is stronger cover than most consumer health apps get; compare Flo, which falls outside HIPAA.

How secure is LibreView?

Abbott says it uses "cryptographic technologies," limits staff access and has its compliance checked through periodic independent audits. Two-step login, though, is required only "in certain countries," so in many places a password is all that protects years of glucose history. We found no reported breach of LibreView.

Abbott runs a coordinated disclosure programme for its devices and lists it on HackerOne, with reports going to [email protected] and no cash rewards. The best-known security flaw, CVE-2020-8997, let someone close by unlock write access to the memory of older Libre sensors over NFC. NVD notes it was not present in the US 14-day sensor from August 2018 or Libre 2 from October 2018.

The sensor recalls

FDA lists several Libre recalls since 2023. Reader batteries that could swell or overheat led to a Class I recall in February 2023. A Libre 3 app fault on Android 13 that caused long signal loss was a Class II recall the same month. In July 2024 some Libre 3 sensors gave falsely high readings (Class I).

The largest came on 24 November 2025, when Abbott sent an urgent correction for certain Libre 3 and Libre 3 Plus sensors with a manufacturing fault that could cause falsely low readings. FDA's enforcement data lists about 3 million affected sensors. By 7 January 2026 Abbott had reported seven deaths and 860 serious injuries linked to the fault, FDA says. A falsely low reading can lead someone to eat extra carbohydrates or skip insulin. Abbott said readers and apps were not affected, and LibreLink in the US reads older sensors. These are device corrections, not privacy fines, so they do not lower the regulatory score, but they matter more to your health than any setting in the app.

How to use LibreLink safely

1. Check any Libre 3 or Libre 3 Plus sensor serial number at freestylecheck.com.
2. Confirm a reading with a fingerstick when symptoms do not match the number, as the app's own instructions require a backup meter.
3. Use a strong, unique LibreView password, and turn on two-step login if your country offers it.
4. Review your LibreLinkUp followers and connected clinics, and remove the ones you no longer need.
5. Leave research and marketing opt-ins off unless you want them.

How we scored it

Regulatory record (85) is the strongest factor, with no privacy fine against Abbott's Libre apps. Scams and harmful content (76) loses points because wrong sensor readings, not strangers, are the real harm. Transparency and control (72) credits self-service account deletion. Privacy (68) and security (66) reflect no tracking and audited systems, held back by research data kept after deletion and two-step login that is not required everywhere.