Period tracking apps are major red flags, report warns

If you use a period tracking app to record your monthly cycles, then you might want to reconsider. According to a report, your data might be misused to deny job opportunities, healthcare and even make you a victim of cyberstalking. In the US, the problem can stretch into the area of making abortions tougher. The researchers say this data is a "gold mine" for advertisers, who use it to market their products in a specific manner to the demographic.

However, while this is a known fact, the major issue with feeding your data into period tracking apps is that it puts you at several more risks. The University of Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy published the report on June 10 and warned that if app data falls into the wrong hands, women stand a lot to lose.

Also Read: Future without smartphones? Zuckerberg, Musk, Gates and Altman say yes, Apple says not yet

Period tracking apps collect massive amounts of data, and this is how they make profits, the report states. The most important is pregnancy data, which advertisers use to create custom ads to lure in women. The University of Cambridge report states that data on pregnancy is 200 times more valuable than data on age, gender, or location.

Women don't think their period data is private and intimate

Stefanie Felsberger, sociologist and lead author of the University of Cambridge report, said she asked women in Austria about the reasons they use period tracking apps. She was surprised to know that most of them did not think of their period data as private. Almost all of them were unaware that the data is extremely valuable commercially.

Also Read: Warmongers will hide in 'bunkers' as the world burns from a 'nuclear holocaust', Tulsi Gabbard issues chilling warning

“They don’t just collect information about the menstrual cycle as such, they also collect information about people’s reproductive choices, sexual activities, their wellbeing, health, [and] medication intake,” she said in a statement.

“Menstrual tracking data is being used to control people’s reproductive lives.”

Menstrual data used in US to hinder access to abortion

The report states that in the US, where these apps are regulated as general wellness devices, the data is not protected by any legal regulations. This leaves it vulnerable and exposed to several private organisations, and even the government. The latter can use it to restrict access to abortions.

Besides, these apps also gather data like age, gender, IP addresses, app behaviour, and device information.

During Donald Trump's first term in office, several unaccompanied minors entered the country, and the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement tracked period data. The office kept a watch on their menstrual cycles with the aim to deny them abortions even if they were the result of rape.

MSNBC gained access to a spreadsheet which contained data on the minors’ menstrual cycles, pregnancy lengths, their sexual activity, and whether they had requested an abortion.

In the UK and European Union, period tracking apps have more legal protections, "but they are not often implemented very well,” Felsberger said, adding that their "privacy policies are very vague."