Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

femtechdesigndesk.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 285 posts

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

#3

Post by philipallstar »

> It seems like we can’t just necessarily leave it up to companies – or their ragtag teams of crackpot lawyers rewriting privacy policies every few months – to keep our private data private.

It's not a medical requirement from a doctor, so just keep a diary if you want to. Not everything needs to be an app. All the money spent on regulations and regulators to cover increasingly niche opt-in services that are entirely unnecessary is a waste.

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

#4

Post by sdoering »

thom-gtdp wrote: post #2

[flagged]

“They had to find a way to make money” is not a moral blank check.

By that logic, almost anything becomes defensible. I was out of work, so I became a contract killer. I had to find a way to make money.

No. Companies still have to follow the law. They also have the option of being decent and not tracking or sharing intimate data like sexual preferences with Meta, Google, TikTok, and the advertising industry.

I’ve been asked as a contractor to build this kind of thing. I refused, before and after GDPR. It cost me money. Fine. I can live with that.

What I cannot respect is people who decide that revenue matters more than basic privacy, then hide behind “business needs” as if that ends the conversation.

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

#5

Post by johnny22 »

philipallstar wrote: post #3

> It seems like we can’t just necessarily leave it up to companies – or their ragtag teams of crackpot lawyers rewriting privacy policies every few months – to keep our private data private. It's not a medical requirement from a doctor, so just keep a diary if you want to. Not everything needs to be an app. All the money spent on regulations and regulators to cover increasingly niche opt-in services that are entirely…

privacy legislation would just solve the problem by itself though.

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

#7

Post by sdoering »

philipallstar wrote: post #3

> It seems like we can’t just necessarily leave it up to companies – or their ragtag teams of crackpot lawyers rewriting privacy policies every few months – to keep our private data private. It's not a medical requirement from a doctor, so just keep a diary if you want to. Not everything needs to be an app. All the money spent on regulations and regulators to cover increasingly niche opt-in services that are entirely…

Why is it a waste? If you want to provide an app, one should follow the law and the regulations. It isn't the wild west (and even that had regulations).

Also: Why blame the victims, not the perp?

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

#8

Post by ceejayoz »

johnny22 wrote: post #5
philipallstar wrote: post #3

> It seems like we can’t just necessarily leave it up to companies – or their ragtag teams of crackpot lawyers rewriting privacy policies every few months – to keep our private data private. It's not a medical requirement from a doctor, so just keep a diary if you want to. Not everything needs to be an app. All the money spent on regulations and regulators to cover increasingly niche opt-in services that are entirely…

privacy legislation would just solve the problem by itself though.

They've been thumbing their noses at EU privacy legislation and fines for quite some time already.

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

#9

Post by Zak »

thom-gtdp wrote: post #2

[flagged]

I need a way to make money too, but we have laws saying I can't do it by hitting you over the head with a club and taking yours. We also have laws saying Flo can't do it by lying about who they sell private data to.

I would advise anyone tracking medical data with an app to use something open source and local-only or network-optional if at all possible. I know there are open source cycle tracking apps, but I do not know if they're any good.

Post reply on HN