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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

#171

Post by rconti »

aboringusername wrote: post #25

I don't actually see this as a problem, and instead it's a PSA everyone needs to internalize: If you put data onto a networked device it may be sent to some place else. If you don't want your data being shared: Use a device that does not have any networking capability (both hardware and software wise) Use a pen and paper, you can shred and destroy as you see fit. If you're using an application on a mobile device with…

Of course you do, your comment is just clickbait. Here's why:

| I don't actually see this as a problem

Okay, go on, perhaps you have an interesting point

| and instead it's a PSA everyone needs to internalize

If it's not a problem, it's not a PSA because nobody needs to know or care. If it's something worthy of a PSA, then it must stem from a problem.

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

#172

Post by Chris2048 »

cogman10 wrote: post #157
Muromec wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's scary and all, but does it actually happen?

Does what actually happen? Prosecutions for abortions? Yes. Warrants related to people getting an abortion? Yes. A period tracker being used as the jump off point for those prosecutions/investigations? Hard to say, maybe? If the data is being sold it isn't hard to imagine that prosecutors and busybodies aren't currently mining that data.

> isn't hard to imagine that prosecutors

mainly because I have no idea whether it's realistic to imagine what prosecutors do. I can also easily imagine it to be illegal and wildly unrealistic behaviour for a prosecutor, in my ignorance.

> Warrants related to people getting an abortion?

The question here isn't whether abortion is illegal in some states, but about period tracking data could be used as evidence, or justify an investigation - especially data that is seemingly illegally obtained. AFAIK, illegally obtained evidence is normally not valid grounds for investigation, and might actually weaken the case based on "fruit of the poisonous tree" doctrine.

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

#173

Post by phoronixrly »

OJFord wrote: post #170
freediddy wrote: post #166

Meta only cares about ad revenue so could they be researching or have discovered a link between buying trends and links to a woman's cycle?

Are you joking? There's loads of trivial links. Most obviously: it's stopped (pregnancy, menopause) and therefore so too will stop purchases of certain 'female hygiene products'.

And will be targeted by an avalanche of childbirth-related ads... Isn't this an old story now? We've already seen this happening even before evidence of women's health data being sold to ad companies...

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

#174

Post by phoronixrly »

embedding-shape wrote: post #74
moffers wrote: post #19

I don’t have the right configuration of equipment to use an app like this, but does anyone know why this needs to be a service-driven app? What piece of functionality requires a server to track your health?

My partner uses the app this article is about (Flo) and I have an account there too in order for her to share the data with me. I guess you could do it with some sort of P2P sync with cryptography involved locally instead, and/or E2E for stuff sent via the servers. Kind of surprised me they didn't have E2E already, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore.

Well... They share their data with you and a bunch of adtech companies...

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

#175

Post by muwtyhg »

joe_mamba wrote: post #139
forgotaccount3 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People in power want the information to identify a narrower set of people who may have been pregnant and then did not have a child and so may have had an abortion. And facebook doesn't care about people's rights when those people in power are able to block Facebook from acquiring some new startup they want to buy, so facebook is willing to share the information.

>People in power want the information to identify a narrower set of people who may have been pregnant and then did not have a child and so may have had an abortion. And what will people in power do with this information?

Are you not American? We have literal abortion bounty programs[1] in some states. There is definitely a desire to find women who have had abortions and punish them for it.

[1] https://www.npr.org/2022/07/11/1107741175/texas-abortion-bou...

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

#176

Post by phoronixrly »

culi wrote: post #137
mghackerlady wrote: post #90

I don't have a period, so I'm not the best person to do it, but there really needs to be a solid FOSS alternative to flo. If GNU had more women, it'd probably already exist

I did a quick review of what FOSS options are currently out there https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47936103

There are a plethora of open-source implementations available on F-Droid. They need to be looked at for privacy before choosing one, but there are completely offline ones.

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

#178

Post by ceejayoz »

FireBeyond wrote: post #163
ceejayoz wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lots of people dont know what HIPPA is Ironically, it's HIPAA. You're right, though; it's much more limited than people think. During COVID people claimed everything violated HIPAA (masks, vaccine requirements, testing), but it only applies in a very narrow subset of patient/provider relationships.

Very much so. Also ironically, as a healthcare provider (paramedic), HIPAA expressly allows me to get your healthcare information without your consent (as needed for your care). A lot of facilities have you sign paperwork to explicitly authorize sharing, but that's really just a CYA. "Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to share patient health information for treatment…

That seems entirely unironic and reasonable, though?

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

#180

Post by haldujai »

FireBeyond wrote: post #163
ceejayoz wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lots of people dont know what HIPPA is Ironically, it's HIPAA. You're right, though; it's much more limited than people think. During COVID people claimed everything violated HIPAA (masks, vaccine requirements, testing), but it only applies in a very narrow subset of patient/provider relationships.

Very much so. Also ironically, as a healthcare provider (paramedic), HIPAA expressly allows me to get your healthcare information without your consent (as needed for your care). A lot of facilities have you sign paperwork to explicitly authorize sharing, but that's really just a CYA. "Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to share patient health information for treatment…

The bigger gap is for healthcare and business operations which is very broad and includes datasets for AI training as one example.
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