281–290 of 438 posts
We've incubated a private, local-first menstrual tracking app! My partner is the founder. She's a PMDD sufferer who needed a proper, science-first tracker to treat her hormonal symptoms. After Roe, she didn't feel like she had any options but to build her own app — Embody. We're getting ready for a security audit and to take it open source. Would love any feedback! https://embody.space
They don't need apps to do this. I sat in a meeting with a data broker in 1998 where one of their managers was chuffed that they could determine menstrual cycles by analyzing purchasing records. And it wasn't hygiene products. Various foods and other spending patterns pop out after a 28-day correlation over groups of women that are artificially "synced" into cohort groups. This invasiveness will continue so long as t…
Assuming purchase history has that clear a pattern (I'm doubtful) doesn't that mean that purchase history alone would ... what? Not be allowed? Because it could be used to determine other things? I'm not sure what consumer protections could really do much here if the pattern is obvious and the data exists.
i never pay with card and i don't join any member programs to avoid creating a purchase history. pattern or not, a lot can be gleaned from what i buy.
The article doesn't explain how their safety is at risk.
They don't need apps to do this. I sat in a meeting with a data broker in 1998 where one of their managers was chuffed that they could determine menstrual cycles by analyzing purchasing records. And it wasn't hygiene products. Various foods and other spending patterns pop out after a 28-day correlation over groups of women that are artificially "synced" into cohort groups. This invasiveness will continue so long as t…
Can you elaborate? Because even with hygiene products, people buy them before they need them and stock up. And with food, you're often shopping for a week and for the whole family. You put things on a shopping list and don't buy them the same day you're using them, or even the same week. I suspect that even if the manager thought they could determine it, their actual "results" were entirely random. After all, how is…
Are there any subscription-only apps out there that don't advertise at all (in app) and if they do it is based entirely on anonymized broader categories rather than individual targeting?
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What I mean by valid is that, without knowing all the information, skepticism is a good thing. Too many companies take a mile when you give an inch and take advantage of ambiguity. The SDK simply doesn’t exist as a product any more and so doesn’t make sense to keep on our website as an offering. So I’m glad you brought that to my attention. If there are any specifics about the privacy of Reflect you’d like me to eluc…
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While I expect most women buy in advance, I expect they also don't buy enough and so are out there mid-period at least some of the time. Their cycles also affect their buying patterns, so even women who are stocking up are more likely to buy differently in different parts of the cycle. The real question is what does the manager do with the data. Across a city on any given day there are about the same number of women…
> The real question is what does the manager do with the data. Direct-mail (or these days, in-app with notifications) coupons. If you know you'll pay full price at CVS, but it's 30% off at Rite-Aid, you'll go to Rite-Aid and buy other stuff as long as you're making the trip. I mean, maybe there really are enough women buying last-minute to be able to predict, at least for those women -- and identify who those women a…
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Miscarriages are spontaneous abortions. The anti-abortion laws are being used against women who have miscarriages.
Miscarriages are not spontaneous abortions to those in the medical field. Sorry if the terms are confusing though.
People have been arrested for miscarrying in the US.
There's a FOSS alternative called Drip. https://dripapp.org/ It is funded by Mozilla and Open Knowledge Foundation. Available on iOS and Android.
So they will end up killing it soon? /s