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.
Use free and open source software to protect your data. This goes for everybody on any device.
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Lol sure apple doesnt use that data internally. /s
Yes, probably someone would like to, but they can't.
I don't know anything about health app in particular, but they posted some cool methods for finding highlight photos in your library using what they call "differential privacy" on their research blog.
Learning Iconic Scenes with Differential Privacy
In this article, we share how we apply differential privacy (DP) to learn about the kinds of photos people take at frequently visited…
Apple Machine Learning Research (machinelearning.apple.com)
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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.
As a trans woman, I make sure to log my irregular bi-weekly periods on flo to make sure their data is tip top!
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You need to teach me this skill. Any excuse to get frisky with my wife.
How adorable
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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
Also trans inclusive which has the double benefit of not being the cliché pink.
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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.
Made my own desktop app in python (tkinter) which encrypts the data with GPG. It has predictions and potential ovulation days. The predictions seem pretty accurate so far.
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The humans in my family who experience menstrual cycles have been pretty happy with Clue who have an explicit promise to never give up your data. YMMV and of course you should evaluate what a promise from this organization means to you.
The humans in my family who experience menstrual cycles
lol
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Yes of course but it's marketing data.
Marketing data. We need it for marketing to people so they can spend money.
Don't you understand! Marketing data!!!
It's not nefarious! We just wanna send you the right ads when your hormones are in flux and you're vulnerable!
Also we promise we definitely will hand over your menstrual data the second your GOP Governor requests it. /s
If we're gonna be going full cyberpunk I'd better see a lot more fuckin neon over the next few years.
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I'm not sure what the best answer to that is. I don't think it's forcing Google to improve its search results.
I want it to be the average person gaining a baseline level of computer and media literacy such that they seek out and find apps that cannot send sensitive data to third parties without the user's clear intent, but I don't think we'll ever get there.
Personal responsibility only gets you so far when the big money actively fights against it. I think the answer lies in both holding companies like Google to higher standards as well as improving access to the knowledge we need to navigate what the world has become. It doesn't help anybody when the FBI has recommended people use an ad blocker for over a decade but nobody has ever heard them say it.
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It's not nefarious! We just wanna send you the right ads when your hormones are in flux and you're vulnerable!
Also we promise we definitely will hand over your menstrual data the second your GOP Governor requests it. /s
If we're gonna be going full cyberpunk I'd better see a lot more fuckin neon over the next few years.
Many city's don't allow neon at all.
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Made my own desktop app in python (tkinter) which encrypts the data with GPG. It has predictions and potential ovulation days. The predictions seem pretty accurate so far.
Has "if it makes a funny noise I'll shoot the computer" vibes, love it
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Has "if it makes a funny noise I'll shoot the computer" vibes, love it
Haha thanks. If you want to check it out, the link is: https://codeberg.org/kingorgg/period_tracker
I haven't tried it on windows though, so I'm not sure if it will work properly on there. It's just a personal project for now. The UI is pretty basic too.
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The humans in my family who experience menstrual cycles
lol
Something funny about humans doing human things?
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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.
Police in UK can now take women's phones and check their period tracking app
Several women's health and safety organisations have spoken out against the 'shocking' new guidance, vowing to 'aggressively challenge' it
Tyla (www.tyla.com)
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Police in UK can now take women's phones and check their period tracking app
Several women's health and safety organisations have spoken out against the 'shocking' new guidance, vowing to 'aggressively challenge' it
Tyla (www.tyla.com)
I think even something like Drip is not sufficient in this kind of situation. If the police can compel someone to unlock their phone and decrypt data, then being local-only won't stop them. Of course it's a lot easier to ensure that no data exists if it's local-only and something happens that might attract the interest of the police.
Nothing in this comment should be construed as legal advice.
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My wife just asks me to grab her boobs and I can generally let her know several days out and be accurate to within half a day.
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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.
flo app makes $192 million a year with 5 million paying users, which seems absolutely wild to me for something that covers such a basic need
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Many city's don't allow neon at all.
️They can be LED I just want the aesthetic.
