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Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

femtechdesigndesk.substack.com

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Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#251

Post by SlinkyOnStairs »

philipallstar wrote: post #248
SlinkyOnStairs wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All the money spent on regulations and regulators to cover increasingly niche opt-in services that are entirely unnecessary is a waste. That isn't what's happening. The regulations don't get little niche cases added to them, they're writen to be generally applicable to all niches. > It's not a medical requirement from a doctor, so just keep a diary if you want to. "Just don't use the computer if you don't want comp…

> "Just don't use the computer if you don't want companies to rat you out to the fascist government that'll imprison or kill you for having a miscarriage" is a ridiculous victim-blaming position. No-one's saying this, and based on your wording you seem to be trained on some very predictable and narrow corpuses. > It's not a "medical requirement" except for the many many many cases where it is. Flo is not a medical de…

> No-one's saying this

No-one was saying it explicitly. I merely took what you said and re-stated what it concretely meant in the real world.

The generalization to "all computers" is an assumption, but you appear to maintain a narrow view of what is "medically necessary" and just now generalize to things like dairies, so I believe I am correct in asserting that you would generalize this to all "non-essential" software.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#252

Post by gblargg »

freirin wrote: post #144
Hendrikto wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of your opinion on gender and identity politics, surely people can agree that only biological women have periods.

Not quite! While trans women obviously don't have menstrual cycles a good chunk of the population suffer from period-like symptoms/PMS just due to similar hormonal fluctuations.

Aren't those 100% predictable since they are caused by external application of said hormones?

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#253

Post by andy_pl »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #197
everdrive wrote: post #192

If the app could make another $0.05 selling your location to kidnapping gangs, they'd do it. There's no such thing as an app that cares about your privacy or your interests.

They'd only do it as long as the risk of getting caught and the punishment when caught made it worth it. If the authorities that are supposed to enforce GDPR (and other data protection laws around the world) were doing their job, app makers would be a lot more careful with what they embed and what data they send where. Because these authorities don't seem to have been doing anything useful, it's now so normalized tha…

Slightly more nuanced now — EDPB's 2024-2027 strategy explicitly prioritizes large-platform enforcement, and recent turnover-based fines (Meta €1.2B in 2023, TikTok €345M, Uber €290M in 2024) suggest the deterrence math is tightening. Health data under Art. 9 carries the heaviest penalty multipliers; the question on Flo is whether national DPAs coordinate via the one-stop-shop mechanism or local supervisory authorities (Polish UODO, French CNIL) move independently.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#254

Post by ksenzee »

embedding-shape wrote: post #250
ksenzee wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate that you've educated yourself about these issues, but let me assure you from decades of personal experience and conversations with other women that it is useful to be notified when your period is going to start.

More "experienced" it than anything, everyone is different of course which is why I'm not saying that everyone needs/don't need it. Thank you but no need for any assurances, my partner lives with me and shares her experience and thoughts about it freely, and I'll continue to listen to what she says she needs/doesn't need :)

Hm. Well, congratulations on being the first man to mansplain menstruation to me. Somebody already knocked out breastfeeding years ago. Pregnancy is still up for grabs, if any men out there want to take a whack at telling me what that's like.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#255

Post by mghackerlady »

gblargg wrote: post #252
freirin wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite! While trans women obviously don't have menstrual cycles a good chunk of the population suffer from period-like symptoms/PMS just due to similar hormonal fluctuations.

Aren't those 100% predictable since they are caused by external application of said hormones?

There are multiple factors like dosage and specific hormone regimen (some do monotherapy while others do estrogen and a anti-androgen), but generally yes

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#256

Post by xzjis »

basilikum wrote: post #217
xzjis wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drip has a paradoxical flaw: by trying to be extremely inclusive and making a "gender-neutral" app (without the colour pink) to include trans people, it discourages some people from using it. At least, my friend told me she thought the design was ugly and was looking for a "cute" app, so she ended up using Flo instead of Drip despite my many warnings. I think FLOSS apps often forget that not everyone is a developer o…

I don't quite understand your point. Is Drip non-pink to include trans men? That sounds really far fetched to me. And your friend found it ugly because it's not pink? Design is obviously subjectivity and perhaps your friend prefers the color pink, but has any of this actually anything to do with trans people and inclusiveness? What's your reasoning for the conclusion of the app looking the way it does due to this and…

In the app description: "Not another cute, pink app. drip. is designed with gender inclusivity in mind"

So it's a perfectly conscious choice, and that's exactly what turns off some women who might prefer a cute, pink app. I have nothing against inclusivity, quite the opposite, but in this case they could offer two themes rather than imposing an app that isn't "cute". Even as a man, you can prefer cute things.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#257

Post by xzjis »

frameworkeGPU wrote: post #185
xzjis wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drip has a paradoxical flaw: by trying to be extremely inclusive and making a "gender-neutral" app (without the colour pink) to include trans people, it discourages some people from using it. At least, my friend told me she thought the design was ugly and was looking for a "cute" app, so she ended up using Flo instead of Drip despite my many warnings. I think FLOSS apps often forget that not everyone is a developer o…

took me a while to figure out what you were even responding to: > Not another cute, pink app. drip. is designed with gender inclusivity in mindful so a FOSS community should bimboify their app because your friend wants her data pinkwashed more than she wants her data safe? sounds like a her problem but she could always fork herself

My friend isn't a developer; on the contrary, she's pretty tech illiterate. She has very little patience for testing 10 different apps. I think it would be possible to have two themes: a neutral one, and a pink and cute one.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#258

Post by xzjis »

embedding-shape wrote: post #111
xzjis wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drip has a paradoxical flaw: by trying to be extremely inclusive and making a "gender-neutral" app (without the colour pink) to include trans people, it discourages some people from using it. At least, my friend told me she thought the design was ugly and was looking for a "cute" app, so she ended up using Flo instead of Drip despite my many warnings. I think FLOSS apps often forget that not everyone is a developer o…

That sounds not so much as a flaw, as a conscious product decision. And to be honest, doesn't sound like a bad one, not every app needs to work or look the same way, as long as people have choices, they can be responsible for the choices they make. If someone wants a safer but boring app or if someone wants a cute "who gives a fuck about privacy" app, both should be fine.

The problem is that there is literally no other free and open-source app to track your periods, so you're forced to use some proprietary piece of shit that sells all possible medical information about its users.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#259

Post by mghackerlady »

xzjis wrote: post #257
frameworkeGPU wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

took me a while to figure out what you were even responding to: > Not another cute, pink app. drip. is designed with gender inclusivity in mindful so a FOSS community should bimboify their app because your friend wants her data pinkwashed more than she wants her data safe? sounds like a her problem but she could always fork herself

My friend isn't a developer; on the contrary, she's pretty tech illiterate. She has very little patience for testing 10 different apps. I think it would be possible to have two themes: a neutral one, and a pink and cute one.

or, like I suggested, allow custom ones. I know a trans guy who would think a shark themed period app is pretty cool (he calls it his shark week)

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#260

Post by y0eswddl »

noir_lord wrote: post #210
jumpconc wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The spying part requires a server. If you use GrapheneOS, you can enable or disable internet access for each app.

Motorola needs to hurry up and release their GrapheneOS devices, I need a new phone soon(TM) (next year or two) and I refuse to give google money to buy hardware to avoid Google.

Buy a used Pixel - it's better for the environment, anyway
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