Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta • Hacker News Board

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

#281

Post by basilikum » Fri, May 01, 2026, 7:10 PM UTC

xzjis wrote: post #256

basilikum wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Okay, that's strange. It also doesn't make sense to me. Making an app non-pink and not-cute doesn't seem gender inclusive at all to me. It's a perfectly fine design choice on its own, but implying that non-pink things are somehow more gender inclusive than pink things is quite stereotypical about traditional gender roles.

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

#282

Post by Marjoriedoucet » Fri, May 01, 2026, 7:46 PM UTC

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.

I get where this comes from, but I don’t think it’s that absolute.

There are apps that are designed so they literally can’t access your data not because they’re more trustworthy, but because the architecture removes that possibility.

The problem is those approaches don’t map well to common business models (ads, subscriptions tied to engagement, etc.), so they’re much less common.

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

#283

Post by Marjoriedoucet » Fri, May 01, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC

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?

[flagged]

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

#284

Post by embedding-shape » Sat, May 02, 2026, 10:15 AM UTC

filleduchaos wrote: post #280

embedding-shape wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The way she would notice it "sooner or later" is by her bleeding on her clothes and possibly even furniture. No, many can feel it beforehand, and you notice it when you go to the bathroom before as well, as certain things change their properties slightly, it's not a "nothing" phase and then "floods out of your body". It's borderline parody how little education there is for males when it comes to things like this.

I am a woman in case you did not pick up on that. You seem to forget that there is about a third of the day when shockingly enough a person is not conscious to feel blood leaking out of them. I mentioned staining furniture for a reason - I promise you that menstruation does not wait for you to wake up to start.

Great! Thanks for sharing your perspective, I'm sure it is the truth in your context and from your perspective, just as me telling you about my wife's perspective is true in our context, nor everyone in life experiences everything the same way, this is fine.

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

#285

Post by newtwentysix » Sun, May 03, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #109

newtwentysix wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, until some years ago we remembered dozens of phone numbers, birthdays, routes, physical addresses, due dates, etc. The trick is to "give a tool for 1-2 generations of customers" , and then they'll be fully dependent on the tool.

1-2 generations? give an advanced anything to anyone with no true knowledge of how to do it without the tool and you'll have people fully dependent in hours. kids today cannot navigate without turn-by-turn. nobody looks at the map to get names of major streets, they just blindly follow the directions. I learned how to navigate as a kid just by being bored and staring out the window and being able to recognize things.…

Yes, I agree with your point.