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Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

cam.ac.uk

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Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#241

Post by bryanhogan »

TechPlasma wrote: post #143
NoTranslationL wrote: post #23

If anyone is interested in a privacy focused tracking app that stores all your data locally, I make an app called Reflect [0] whose sole purpose is this, plus on-device analysis. We’re working on a menstrual tracking feature right now and it’s pretty far along. We’ve just released an anomaly detection feature as well. [0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reflect-track-anything/id64638...

Do you have a link to the Android app?

I'm building an app with the same concept but web based first and converted to Android and iOS via Capacitor, for now.

It's not released yet, but if you'd like to get an e-mail notification you could take a look here: https://dailyselftrack.com/

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#242

Post by zdragnar »

vinckr wrote: post #130
giantg2 wrote: post #115

Did I miss the part where the data risks women's safety? I was particularly interested in that part of the headline, but I didn't see it detailed in the article.

the most obvious is that abortions are illegal in the US and you can monitor that status through the app. So in extreme cases if you are pregnant and the baby is going to kill you, you aren't allowed to abort it - get an illegal abortion - woops the app spied on me and now you are in prison.

Elective abortions are illegal in some states. Even the most restrictive states, like those with six week bans, include exemptions for things like ectopic pregnancy and preeclampsia.

Further, nationwide abortion rates are at an all-time high. The fall of Roe vs Wade has not moved the needle on that count.

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#243

Post by bethekidyouwant »

So each government should make a period cycle app and ban private companies from doing the same? Or the WHO should make the app? Clearly such laws will never be passed in every country. Is this any different from using a point card at a store and buying prenatal vitamins or a pregnancy test? Even a credit card has this type of purchase information, even if they claim not to share direct personal info to advertisers. I would say let users consent when they download an app and leave it in their hands to decide

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#245

Post by yesfitz »

BurningFrog wrote: post #234
yesfitz wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Third paragraph: "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." If you want to trace the claims to their sources, you can read the full report from MCTD Cambridge here: https://www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/The-High-S...

It's not a secret that women of fertile age have periods. How knowing the specific days could add all those risks is hard to see. I get why it's icky from a privacy standpoint.

The report has case studies and citations in the section "Individual Harms: Tracking Data used against Users": https://www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/The-High-S...

You can use those to determine the authors' claims and follow their sources to determine whether or not you accept those claims.

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#246

Post by giantg2 »

vinckr wrote: post #130
giantg2 wrote: post #115

Did I miss the part where the data risks women's safety? I was particularly interested in that part of the headline, but I didn't see it detailed in the article.

the most obvious is that abortions are illegal in the US and you can monitor that status through the app. So in extreme cases if you are pregnant and the baby is going to kill you, you aren't allowed to abort it - get an illegal abortion - woops the app spied on me and now you are in prison.

I didn't really see laws as a threat to safety. While their enforcement can be, that train of thinking can be applied to anything. If you have a machine gun that isn't registered, is the app you took notes about it in a threat to your safety, or is it the law/enforcement? You can have people believe very strongly that abortion is a right or that owning an unregistered machine gun is a right. There may be implicit value based bias if we want to treat circumventing one scenario more favorably than circumventing another. At the heart of the issue, society/government is a threat to anyone who is breaking the law, which is implicitly how laws work.

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#247

Post by ToucanLoucan »

bethekidyouwant wrote: post #243

So each government should make a period cycle app and ban private companies from doing the same? Or the WHO should make the app? Clearly such laws will never be passed in every country. Is this any different from using a point card at a store and buying prenatal vitamins or a pregnancy test? Even a credit card has this type of purchase information, even if they claim not to share direct personal info to advertisers.…

Ban all advertising on automatically collected data. Users who desire to may opt in by voluntarily providing information about themselves to get the most relevant ads. Apart from that, ads become targeting-free.

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#248

Post by creaturemachine »

msdrider wrote: post #128
beAbU wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Joke's on them, my wife likes ice cream every day.

[flagged]

We see where you're going with that, and you really shouldn't. Besides, some men are really into it.

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#249

Post by bluGill »

dylan604 wrote: post #118
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also would like “give an incorrect location” as an option. Something like that would probably never be supported by Google or Apple officially, because unlike some other privacy features, it’s actively and overtly hostile to advertisers.

regardless of what apple/google allow officially, the cell carrier also has tracking locations. if you're going out to do something that you would want to hide your location, it's best to just leave the device at home. get a burner phone paid for in cash by someone not you doing the transaction.

Your cell carrier operators under very different laws and ability to harm you. Sure they know where you are, but most of the data flowing across their network is encrypted and so they mostly know you have a lot of data to AWS, google, and the like but not what it is. Google as the endpoint of that data has the decrypted version of the data and so they know what it is, and so they can target you in different ways.

If you are going to commit a crime (rape, murder), then all the police need is to know who owns the phones in the area and so you need a burner phone to hide your tracks.

However most of us are not worried about crimes. We are worried about privacy. We are not doing anything illegal, but google still knows far too much about us and is using that to legally abuse us with advertisements. While we all want to pretend we are good at ignoring advertisements, most of us have bought things we don't need and don't really want (or spent too much on things we did need/want).

Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety

#250

Post by giantg2 »

mrweasel wrote: post #181
jedimastert wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Third paragraph: > 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. Did you miss it or are you disagreeing with these being a threat?

Or violence or even death. Certain cultures don't take to kindly to pregnancies outside marriage, or maybe the family disagree with the choice of partner. A cousin works for the app company, leaks the information about an unexpected pregnancy to a conservative father or uncle. Girls is shipped of to family back home and is tragically stabbed to death a few days after arriving. Most people who collect data of this typ…

Good point about family violence threats. That wasn't in the article, but makes sense.
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