Menstrual tracking app data is a ‘gold mine’ for advertisers that risks women’s safety
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I couldn't find a good one, so I'm open to recommendations
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 12:51 zuletzt editiert vonLook at the other comments, apparently drip should be the goto open source app.
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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.schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 12:54 zuletzt editiert vonBecause its effort. We have to get the average person to care about their security and privacy before they will bother using these alternatives. It's much easier for them to download a popular one off an app store and have the data stick with them, than it is to download f-droid, find the right app, make sure its still supported and setup their own data backup.
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Because its effort. We have to get the average person to care about their security and privacy before they will bother using these alternatives. It's much easier for them to download a popular one off an app store and have the data stick with them, than it is to download f-droid, find the right app, make sure its still supported and setup their own data backup.
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 12:58 zuletzt editiert von buffalox@lemmy.world 6. Nov. 2025, 15:51People don't give a shit, and prefer to stay uninformed. Maybe more Darwin awards are necessary?
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Maybe that was out of line, but I'm just so fucking tired of people who choose to be ignorant. -
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:03 zuletzt editiert von
People are mentioning drip, and that's on the Play Store. It's literally the same amount of effort as installing a surveillance app.
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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.schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:12 zuletzt editiert vonDrip looks to be available on Google Play, App Store and F-Droid.
It probably has a lot to do with informing people.
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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.schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:13 zuletzt editiert vonPeriodical.
Local storage only, f-droid. -
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.schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:16 zuletzt editiert von -
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)
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:18 zuletzt editiert vonI 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!
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schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:20 zuletzt editiert von
tiny teams with limited resources.
If the apps work as intended, it doesn't really matter.
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People are mentioning drip, and that's on the Play Store. It's literally the same amount of effort as installing a surveillance app.
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:33 zuletzt editiert vonDoes drip pay to have their app at the top of the list? Because that's about how far most people look
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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.schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:34 zuletzt editiert von landedgentry@lemmy.zip::: spoiler spoiler
safsafsfsafs
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People don't give a shit, and prefer to stay uninformed. Maybe more Darwin awards are necessary?
Edit:
Maybe that was out of line, but I'm just so fucking tired of people who choose to be ignorant.schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:36 zuletzt editiert von landedgentry@lemmy.zip::: spoiler spoiler
safsafsfsafs
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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)
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:39 zuletzt editiert vonDo 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.
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::: spoiler spoiler
safsafsfsafs
:::schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:44 zuletzt editiert vonI 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.
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::: spoiler spoiler
safsafsfsafs
:::schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:45 zuletzt editiert vonI 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.
I'm just so fucking tired of how ignorant people choose to be. -
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)
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:47 zuletzt editiert vonI 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!
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:52 zuletzt editiert vonI 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.schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:53 zuletzt editiert vonSo 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.
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:53 zuletzt editiert vonDo 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.
schrieb am 11. Juni 2025, 13:55 zuletzt editiert von landedgentry@lemmy.zip::: spoiler spoiler
safsafsfsafs
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