Menstrual tracking app data is a ‘gold mine’ for advertisers that risks women’s safety
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Cambridge researchers urge public health bodies like the NHS to provide trustworthy, research-driven alternatives to platforms driven by profit.
Women deserve better than to have their menstrual tracking data treated as consumer data - Prof Gina Neff
Smartphone apps that track menstrual cycles are a “gold mine” for consumer profiling, collecting information on everything from exercise, diet and medication to sexual preferences, hormone levels and contraception use.
This is according to a new report from the University of Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, which argues that the financial worth of this data is “vastly underestimated” by users who supply profit-driven companies with highly intimate details in a market lacking in regulation.
The report’s authors caution that cycle tracking app (CTA) data in the wrong hands could result in risks to job prospects, workplace monitoring, health insurance discrimination and cyberstalking – and limit access to abortion.
They call for better governance of the booming ‘femtech’ industry to protect users when their data is sold at scale, arguing that apps must provide clear consent options rather than all-or-nothing data collection, and urge public health bodies to launch alternatives to commercial CTAs.
Menstrual tracking app data is a ‘gold mine’ for advertisers that risks women’s safety – report
Smartphone apps that track menstrual cycles are a “gold mine” for consumer profiling, collecting information on everything from exercise, diet and medication
University of Cambridge (www.cam.ac.uk)
I mean there are at least 2 apps for that in F-Droid. It's just that most people are FOSS illiterate and only if a big corpo give them shit then they trust it.
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I happen to be a penis owner.
So what would happen if I were to install and use such a monthly tracker app and pretend I've been having regular monthlies for a while, then suddenly I miss a couple periods, then suddenly start having periods again?
Would the cops come beating my door down claiming I had an abortion?
Fuck this dystopian mass surveillance shit!
I happen to be a penis owner.
That's like 95% of Lemmy.
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For christ sake, is there no open source option for such a simple task?
Edit:
2 people here could point to drip within 15 minutes of my post, and a third to the fact there are options on F-droid. So why the fuck don't women just use that?
Well i guess the ones with harmful advertising have better graphics or somemeting. Or the fact they allow advertising makes them more visible on google play. And you probably can't even get drip on iPhones.So why the fuck don’t women just use that?
They probably don't know about it. If I search "period tracker" on Google Play, Drip is in about 40th place in the results. That's several screens down, past a bunch of search suggestions, and the parts where it's open source, on-device, and optionally encrypted aren't clear until I tap on it and read the description.
And you probably can’t even get drip on iPhones.
There's some irony in a comment dealing with people making decisions that are against their interests because they're insufficiently informed speculating incorrectly about something like this when it's easy to check. Drip is, in fact available for iPhone.
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Do women need an app for this? Surely a piece of paper would work just as well, and have a 0% chance of selling your data.
Do people need an app for taking notes? Or a calendar?
Sure, I used to do it on paper for many years. But it's much more convenient to track it on my phone, which I have almost always with me. That way I can check whether I'm likely to be bleeding heavily before making plans with my friends to go swimming that day or on a long hike without access to a toilet.
Also many women don't just track the blood flow but also other data like temperature, cervix and cervical mucus. This helps calculate the most fertile days. It's much easier to let an app do that.
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I admit that was out of line, but for fucks sake, there are so many stupid people doing stupid things it's unbearable. Voting for Trump for example. And the Russian people supporting the war on Ukraine.
Not knowing how to install F Droid/to look for open source projects for sensitive data is not the same as voting for Trump or supporting Russia over Ukraine. The latter are taking bad information/prejudices and acting on them. The other people simply are not aware of the issue, or how serious of an issue personal privacy has become more broadly. Comparing them to MAGA and calling them stupid is not going to help them.
I bet if I looked at your smart phone or computer I would see plenty of services you use that compromise your privacy. Should I call you an ignorant hypocrite and berate you as well?
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Cambridge researchers urge public health bodies like the NHS to provide trustworthy, research-driven alternatives to platforms driven by profit.
Women deserve better than to have their menstrual tracking data treated as consumer data - Prof Gina Neff
Smartphone apps that track menstrual cycles are a “gold mine” for consumer profiling, collecting information on everything from exercise, diet and medication to sexual preferences, hormone levels and contraception use.
This is according to a new report from the University of Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, which argues that the financial worth of this data is “vastly underestimated” by users who supply profit-driven companies with highly intimate details in a market lacking in regulation.
The report’s authors caution that cycle tracking app (CTA) data in the wrong hands could result in risks to job prospects, workplace monitoring, health insurance discrimination and cyberstalking – and limit access to abortion.
They call for better governance of the booming ‘femtech’ industry to protect users when their data is sold at scale, arguing that apps must provide clear consent options rather than all-or-nothing data collection, and urge public health bodies to launch alternatives to commercial CTAs.
Menstrual tracking app data is a ‘gold mine’ for advertisers that risks women’s safety – report
Smartphone apps that track menstrual cycles are a “gold mine” for consumer profiling, collecting information on everything from exercise, diet and medication
University of Cambridge (www.cam.ac.uk)
No woman in the US should be tracking their period in any sort of app or software.
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No woman in the US should be tracking their period in any sort of app or software.
Why not?
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I couldn't find a good one, so I'm open to recommendations
Periodical https://f-droid.org/packages/de.arnowelzel.android.periodical/ is good.
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I happen to be a penis owner.
So what would happen if I were to install and use such a monthly tracker app and pretend I've been having regular monthlies for a while, then suddenly I miss a couple periods, then suddenly start having periods again?
Would the cops come beating my door down claiming I had an abortion?
Fuck this dystopian mass surveillance shit!
Would the cops come beating my door down claiming I had an abortion?
I don't think that has happened starting from a period tracking app yet. There was a case involving an unencrypted messaging app used to discuss a criminalized abortion.
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I happen to be a penis owner.
That's like 95% of Lemmy.
I actually own 2 penises, I keep the spare in a jar in case of an emergency.
/s
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No woman in the US should be tracking their period in any sort of app or software.
Drip, the app mentioned several times in this thread, let's you encrypt the locally stored database with a password you have to enter every time you open the app. How is that not safer than a random piece of paper?
It's so exhausting that this thread is full of men telling women what they should and shouldn't do while having very little knowledge about the topic.
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Drip, the app mentioned several times in this thread, let's you encrypt the locally stored database with a password you have to enter every time you open the app. How is that not safer than a random piece of paper?
It's so exhausting that this thread is full of men telling women what they should and shouldn't do while having very little knowledge about the topic.
And of people who assume the genders of others.
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There is!
It's called drip and is a project started by a berlin-based feminist collective iirc.Free, open-source, local data only
Thank you! Had no idea this existed
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And of people who assume the genders of others.
I'm sorry if I misgendered you. I was already exhausted from the other comments that clearly state that they are men and probably was biased in that regard. But my point still stands that there is no reason to completely forego tracking apps.
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For christ sake, is there no open source option for such a simple task?
Edit:
2 people here could point to drip within 15 minutes of my post, and a third to the fact there are options on F-droid. So why the fuck don't women just use that?
Well i guess the ones with harmful advertising have better graphics or somemeting. Or the fact they allow advertising makes them more visible on google play. And you probably can't even get drip on iPhones.erm, I do use Drip actually. i have used it for over a year now as I didn't want trackers knowing my cycle.
women do use drip. we just don't advertise it, usually.
i have also recommended it to friends who were looking for a more simple app than these google play store ones.
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I actually own 2 penises, I keep the spare in a jar in case of an emergency.
/s
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No woman in the US should be tracking their period in any sort of app or software.
it can be tracked safely with an app that only stores local data.
I'm not sure what you're scared of.
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absolutely. you can also go back to sending hand written mail instead of using email or messaging apps too, but this is 2025 and software exists to help keep track of this.
also apps exist that store local data only.
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I mean there are at least 2 apps for that in F-Droid. It's just that most people are FOSS illiterate and only if a big corpo give them shit then they trust it.
Not everyone uses Android devices.
Edit: do you people not understand context? The person I replied to specifically mentioned F-Droid, which is ANDROID ONLY.
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I don't even need to follow that link to know what this is
