At ConsentKeys.com we're already working on integrating with a menstrual tracking app (can't mention until the ink is dry), but we're a good fit for apps concerned with blow back like this as the apps that use us will never get the real personal information of the users in exchange for us offering to place them in our privacy centric marketplace (exposure) as well as de-risking themselves as a business, as well as de-risking their users from a data breach (or their information being sold/shared).
Vendors also contractually agree to not try to assemble data in a way to try to identify their users as it makes no sense to use us unless you want to be privacy prioritized.
Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
301–310 of 438 posts
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#302Earlier 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.
One hypothetical vector is that you can find out which women aren't menstruating normally, meaning they could be pregnant. If that information makes it into the hands of employers or even recruitment platforms that can manifest as discrimination. Typically, women have to be incredibly careful not to give employers the impression they might be pregnant or might be trying to be pregnant.
There's also angles of chronic illness, for example, you could maybe find out which women have PCOS or endometriosis and would therefore be more likely to request time off work.
In general, we've worked very hard to make sure employers cannot find out this data, going so far as to make it explicitly illegal to ask, even in a voluntary disclosure context. But data tracking complicates the situation, and if there's enough convolution you can get real-world results without technically breaking the law. For example, consider RealPage, which uses data analytics to facilitate collusion in the renting market. When we introduce algorithms and heuristics into systems like hiring, we might unintentionally be using biases in the data against applicants.
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
While the letter of the law is one thing, the other aspect we have to consider is the intentional chilling effects these laws introduce. Doctors and providers are understandably more much hesitant to administer abortions, even in circumstances where it would be legal.
In highly restrictive states, the result is it's very difficult to get a doctor to stand by your abortion, even if you really need it. And, more concerning, some out-of-state doctors won't do it either, for fear of prosecution. States like Texas have demonstrated they intend to overstep and prosecute individuals getting abortions in other states.
For doctors, it's a game of risk-reward. They need to balance their own personal safety and employment, as well as their medical license and reputation. Many have decided it's not worth the risk.
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#304If 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...
For people living in the US of Freedom, wouldn't it be good think to 'keep putting in' cycles, despite pregnancy? Should anything untoward happen later, a quick flash o' the app and "Nope, Officer, no siree. Like clockwork, me...".
I don't get the downvotes. Plausible deniability is a valid concern when menstrual cycles and geolocation can lead to criminal repercussions in many states of USA [0].
Nevertheless, if I was a fertile woman, I'd be more concerned of my phone/tablet/car leaking my visits to an abortion clinic than a police officer checking my phone.
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
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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…
> Too many companies take a mile when you give an inch and take advantage of ambiguity. [paragraph break] 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.
Would you say that you had an epiphany about respecting privacy, after earlier dabbling in intimate surveillance capitalism, and are now firmly committed to privacy?
If so, have you found a way to lock in that commitment?
For example, some kind of contractual assurance, which can't be revoked by the usual "we've updated our privacy policy" (such as might accompany a leadership change, or change of heart), and which effectively survives any merger/acquisition or sale of assets?
(Of course, even with that in place, technologically, a new version of an app could be pushed that irrevocably violates all the users' privacy, in a matter of hours. But at least then, the company, executives, and owners might be sued into oblivion, and even face criminal charges in various jurisdictions.)
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#306If 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...
What homomorphic encryption technology have you looked into using? this is a good use case for that technology.
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#307Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 seem to have lost the plot a bit. In several locations, it is illegal for women to get certain health care. There are parties out there that are very interested in policing those policies. To prove that, it doesn't matter where they get the tracking data as long as they can prove your location. If someone needs a warrant/subpoena to get the data from a cell carrier or some app developer it doesn't matter to the person being persecuted for seeking health care.
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
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> 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. > However, the report highlights how in the UK, apps designed for women's health have been used to charge women for illegally accessing abortion services... In the US, data about menstrual cy…
That's another issue I have with this article. It lists the risks, but does not provide any specific well documented examples. It (and many others privacy related) does not try to quantify them either. Driving a car, flying a plane pose risks too. Yet milions of people take the risk daily. Jumping from 10th floor is also risky and here somehow most peoply don't try it. People intuitively can evaluate the risks on their own and ultimately you cannot do that for them. If examples of negative consequences of their data being sold start appearing, they will stop using these apps by themselves. But I personaly think these risks are blown out of proportion.
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#309Probably the best one-liner fix in law I can think of, is to make it a imprisonable felony to give money to someone or an organization for the purpose of speaking a particular message as their own, and accepting money in exchange for speaking a message as your own. Basically ban advertising, or at least make each commercial basically say "General Motors has paid us to tell you that ... ... ..." instead of the sexy se…
Re: Menstrual tracking app data is gold mine for advertisers that risks women safety
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
When miscarriage happens, you will be hit with non-miscarriage section and unable to prove it was miscarriage. Or, you will prove it only after your life was significantly altered and you had to spend a lot of money. Like common. This literally happens in conservative states. And women are also literally dying or suffering there for preventable medical issues, because doctors are afraid to abort even when they know i…
The common cases I looked into turned out to be misreported on. Unfortunately all the mainstream media lie with a smile (as we saw with “Biden is so smart!” coverage from the NYT etc. over the last year), so it’s getting hard to know what’s happening…
Uhm ... so if you read right wing conservative media, all mainstream media lie. Yeah, totally.
What we see in mainstream media is constant whitewashing and sane washing of Trump. Constant excuses for conservatives and for republicans. But it is never enough for you, they should also lie about harm your policies are causes.
So, yes, doctors are afraid to perform life saving procedures and conservatives applaud it.