Skip to content

Menstrual tracking app data is a ‘gold mine’ for advertisers that risks women’s safety

Technology
144 74 0
  • I couldn't find a good one, so I'm open to recommendations

    Look at the other comments, apparently drip should be the goto open source app.

  • 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.

    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.

  • 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.

    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.

  • People are mentioning drip, and that's on the Play Store. It's literally the same amount of effort as installing a surveillance app.

  • 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.

    Drip looks to be available on Google Play, App Store and F-Droid.

    It probably has a lot to do with informing people.

  • 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.

    Periodical.
    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.

    Besides drip, Euki (github) is another option on both the play store and iOS.

    Note that both of these options are maintained by tiny teams with limited resources.

  • 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.

    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!

  • Besides drip, Euki (github) is another option on both the play store and iOS.

    Note that both of these options are maintained by tiny teams with limited resources.

    tiny teams with limited resources.

    If the apps work as intended, it doesn't really matter.

  • People are mentioning drip, and that's on the Play Store. It's literally the same amount of effort as installing a surveillance app.

    Does drip pay to have their app at the top of the list? Because that's about how far most people look

  • 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.

    I get what you’re trying to say, but this is basically just roundabout victim blaming. Women shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not someone is going to weaponize data on their menstrual cycle against them. Yes it is good to lock your door at night, but ultimately you don’t blame somebody for getting robbed just because they didn't lock it. You blame the thief.

    Not everybody is as aware of privacy issues as the rest of us. We have to help them, not berate them.

  • 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.

    Everybody’s a bad ass talking about Darwin awards when that’s something they understand, but suddenly you will expect sympathy when it’s something you don’t. Maybe try havinga little more empathy for the people of the world who are not as aware of how bad privacy has gotten. Believe it or not, we are of a minority perspective. A very small one at that.

    I’m more inclined to believe it’s partially a failure on our part to educate people, but mostly the issue is that it’s not a fair fight. You are expecting the average person to successfully overcome the resources and influence of sometimes decades old, billion dollar, multinational companies and governments. But I guess it’s a lot easier to just call everybody who doesn’t take this as seriously as we do a dumbass. Certainly allowed you to wipe your hands of it and act smug that’s for sure.

  • 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.

    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.

  • Everybody’s a bad ass talking about Darwin awards when that’s something they understand, but suddenly you will expect sympathy when it’s something you don’t. Maybe try havinga little more empathy for the people of the world who are not as aware of how bad privacy has gotten. Believe it or not, we are of a minority perspective. A very small one at that.

    I’m more inclined to believe it’s partially a failure on our part to educate people, but mostly the issue is that it’s not a fair fight. You are expecting the average person to successfully overcome the resources and influence of sometimes decades old, billion dollar, multinational companies and governments. But I guess it’s a lot easier to just call everybody who doesn’t take this as seriously as we do a dumbass. Certainly allowed you to wipe your hands of it and act smug that’s for sure.

    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.

  • I get what you’re trying to say, but this is basically just roundabout victim blaming. Women shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not someone is going to weaponize data on their menstrual cycle against them. Yes it is good to lock your door at night, but ultimately you don’t blame somebody for getting robbed just because they didn't lock it. You blame the thief.

    Not everybody is as aware of privacy issues as the rest of us. We have to help them, not berate them.

    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.
    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.

    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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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?

  • My AI Skeptic Friends Are All Nuts

    Technology technology
    31
    1
    13 Stimmen
    31 Beiträge
    11 Aufrufe
    J
    I did read it, and my comment is exactly referencing the attitude of the author which is "It's good enough, so you should use it". I disagree, and say it's another dumbass shortcut to cash grab on a less than stellar ecosystem and product. It's training wheels for failure.
  • 109 Stimmen
    22 Beiträge
    3 Aufrufe
    I
    Their previous GPU used an old AMD GPU design if I recall correctly. I wonder if they have in-house stuff now.
  • 106 Stimmen
    1 Beiträge
    1 Aufrufe
    Niemand hat geantwortet
  • AI cheating surge pushes schools into chaos

    Technology technology
    25
    45 Stimmen
    25 Beiträge
    2 Aufrufe
    C
    Sorry for the late reply, I had to sit and think on this one for a little bit. I think there are would be a few things going on when it comes to designing a course to teach critical thinking, nuances, and originality; and they each have their own requirements. For critical thinking: The main goal is to provide students with a toolbelt for solving various problems. Then instilling the habit of always asking "does this match the expected outcome? What was I expecting?". So usually courses will be setup so students learn about a tool, practice using the tool, then have a culminating assignment on using all the tools. Ideally, the problems students face at the end require multiple tools to solve. Nuance mainly naturally comes with exposure to the material from a professional - The way a mechanical engineer may describe building a desk will probably differ greatly compared to a fantasy author. You can also explain definitions and industry standards; but thats really dry. So I try to teach nuances via definitions by mixing in the weird nuances as much as possible with jokes. Then for originality; I've realized I dont actually look for an original idea; but something creative. In a classroom setting, you're usually learning new things about a subject so a student's knowledge of that space is usually very limited. Thus, an idea that they've never heard about may be original to them, but common for an industry expert. For teaching originality creativity, I usually provide time to be creative & think, and provide open ended questions as prompts to explore ideas. My courses that require originality usually have it as a part of the culminating assignment at the end where they can apply their knowledge. I'll also add in time where students can come to me with preliminary ideas and I can provide feedback on whether or not it passes the creative threshold. Not all ideas are original, but I sometimes give a bit of slack if its creative enough. The amount of course overhauling to get around AI really depends on the material being taught. For example, in programming - you teach critical thinking by always testing your code, even with parameters that don't make sense. For example: Try to add 123 + "skibbidy", and see what the program does.
  • 33 Stimmen
    4 Beiträge
    0 Aufrufe
    A
    Phew okay /s
  • 0 Stimmen
    7 Beiträge
    2 Aufrufe
    C
    Oh this is a good callout, I'm definitely using wired and not wireless.
  • 406 Stimmen
    83 Beiträge
    12 Aufrufe
    J
    Of course they don't click anything. Google search has just become a front-end for Gemini, the answer is "served" up right at the top and most people will just take that for Gospel.
  • Apple Watch Shipments’ Continuous Decline

    Technology technology
    10
    1
    22 Stimmen
    10 Beiträge
    2 Aufrufe
    A
    i mean as a core feature of a watch/smartwatch in general. garmin is going above and beyond compared to the competition in that area, and that's great. But that doesn't mean every other smartwatch manufacturer arbitrarily locking traditional watch features behind paywalls. and yeah apple does fitness themed commercials for apple watch because it does help with fitness a ton out of the box. just not specifically guided workouts.