Experts warn of 'frightening' risks linked to period tracker apps
Women face 'real and frightening privacy and safety risks' when using period tracker apps, experts have warned.
Academics from the University of Cambridge said that personal information in the app can be collected and 'sold at scale'.
A new report from experts at Cambridge's Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy said that this 'poses risks and harms for users'.
Researchers said that menstrual data can provide insights into people's health and their reproductive choices.
These apps can collect information on exercise, diet, medication, sexual preferences, hormone levels and contraception use, they added.
This information can be a 'gold mine' for consumer profiling, the authors of the new report said.
Many women who download the apps do so when they are trying to get pregnant, which the authors point out leads to a dramatic shift in shopping behaviour.
'Data on who is pregnant, and who wants to be, has therefore emerged as some of the most sought-after information in digital advertising,' they said.
The point out how period tracking apps have rapidly risen in popularity, with global downloads of the three most popular apps surpassing 250 million.
'Cycle tracking apps (CTA) are a lucrative business because they provide the companies behind the apps with access to extremely valuable and fine-grained user data,' the experts wrote in their new report.
'CTA data is not only commercially valuable and shared with an inextricable net if third parties (thereby making intimate user information exploitable for targeted advertising), but it also poses severe security risks for users.'
They point out that in the wrong hands, the data collected by the apps could result in health insurance 'discrimination'; risks to job prospects or even domestic abuse.
The research team called for better governance of the 'femtech' industry, including improved data security of these apps and for them to introduce 'meaningful consent options'.
They also called for public health bodies to launch alternatives to commercial tracking apps.
'Menstrual cycle tracking apps are presented as empowering women and addressing the gender health gap,' said Dr Stefanie Felsberger, lead author of the report.
'Yet the business model behind their services rests on commercial use, selling user data and insights to third parties for profit.'
'There are real and frightening privacy and safety risks to women as a result of the commodification of the data collected by cycle tracking app companies.'
Professor Gina Neff, executive director of Cambridge's Minderoo Centre, added: 'The use of cycle tracking apps is at an all-time high.
'Women deserve better than to have their menstrual tracking data treated as consumer data, but there is a different possible future.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
New synthetic ‘skin' gives robots human touch
By Stephen Beech A new synthetic "skin" gives robots the human touch. The low-cost, durable and highly-sensitive material can be added to robotic hands just like a glove, say scientists. It enables automatons to detect information about their surroundings in a way that's similar to humans, according to research published in the journal Science Robotics. The research team, from the University of Cambridge and University College London (UCL), developed the flexible, conductive skin, which is easy to fabricate and can be melted down and formed into multiple shapes. They say the new technology senses and processes various physical inputs, allowing robots to interact with the physical world in a more meaningful way. Unlike other solutions for robotic touch, which usually work via sensors embedded in small areas and require different sensors to detect different types of touch, the entirety of the electronic skin developed by the British team is a sensor, bringing it closer to human skin. Previously, signals from different sensors could interfere with each other, and the materials were easily damaged. Although the new robotic skin is not as sensitive as human skin, the researchers say it can detect signals from more than 860,000 tiny pathways in the material. That enables it to recognise different types of touch and pressure, such as the tap of a finger, a hot or cold surface, damage caused by cutting or stabbing, or multiple points being touched at once, in a single material. The research team used a combination of physical tests and machine learning techniques to help the robotic skin "learn" which of these pathways matter most, so it can sense different types of contact more efficiently. As well as the potential for humanoid robots or human prosthetics where a sense of touch is vital, the researchers say the robotic skin could be useful in industry and even disaster relief. Study lead author Dr. David Hardman, from Cambridge's Department of Engineering, said: "Having different sensors for different types of touch leads to materials that are complex to make. "We wanted to develop a solution that can detect multiple types of touch at once, but in a single material." Co-author Dr. Thomas George Thuruthel, of UCL, said: "At the same time, we need something that's cheap and durable, so that it's suitable for widespread use." Their solution uses a type of sensor that reacts differently to different types of touch, known as multi-modal sensing. While it's challenging to separate out the cause of each signal, the researchers explained that multi-modal sensing materials are easier to make and more robust. The team melted down a soft, stretchy and electrically conductive gelatine-based hydrogel, and cast it into the shape of a human hand. They tested several different electrode configurations to determine which gave them the most useful information about different types of touch. From 32 electrodes placed at the wrist, they were able to collect more than 1.7 million pieces of information over the whole hand, thanks to the tiny pathways in the conductive material. The skin was then tested on different types of touch. The researchers blasted it with a heat gun, pressed it with their fingers and a robotic arm, gently touched it with their fingers, and even cut it open with a scalpel. They then used the data gathered during testing to train a machine learning model so the hand would recognise what the different types of touch meant. Dr. Hardman said: "We're able to squeeze a lot of information from these materials – they can take thousands of measurements very quickly. "They're measuring lots of different things at once, over a large surface area." Dr. Thuruthel added: "We're not quite at the level where the robotic skin is as good as human skin, but we think it's better than anything else out there at the moment. "Our method is flexible and easier to build than traditional sensors, and we're able to calibrate it using human touch for a range of tasks." The team is now hoping to improve the durability of the electronic skin and to carry out further tests involving real-world robotic tasks. The post New synthetic 'skin' gives robots human touch appeared first on Talker. Copyright Talker News. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Experts warn of 'frightening' risks linked to period tracker apps
Women face 'real and frightening privacy and safety risks' when using period tracker apps, experts have warned. Academics from the University of Cambridge said that personal information in the app can be collected and 'sold at scale'. A new report from experts at Cambridge's Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy said that this 'poses risks and harms for users'. Researchers said that menstrual data can provide insights into people's health and their reproductive choices. These apps can collect information on exercise, diet, medication, sexual preferences, hormone levels and contraception use, they added. This information can be a 'gold mine' for consumer profiling, the authors of the new report said. Many women who download the apps do so when they are trying to get pregnant, which the authors point out leads to a dramatic shift in shopping behaviour. 'Data on who is pregnant, and who wants to be, has therefore emerged as some of the most sought-after information in digital advertising,' they said. The point out how period tracking apps have rapidly risen in popularity, with global downloads of the three most popular apps surpassing 250 million. 'Cycle tracking apps (CTA) are a lucrative business because they provide the companies behind the apps with access to extremely valuable and fine-grained user data,' the experts wrote in their new report. 'CTA data is not only commercially valuable and shared with an inextricable net if third parties (thereby making intimate user information exploitable for targeted advertising), but it also poses severe security risks for users.' They point out that in the wrong hands, the data collected by the apps could result in health insurance 'discrimination'; risks to job prospects or even domestic abuse. The research team called for better governance of the 'femtech' industry, including improved data security of these apps and for them to introduce 'meaningful consent options'. They also called for public health bodies to launch alternatives to commercial tracking apps. 'Menstrual cycle tracking apps are presented as empowering women and addressing the gender health gap,' said Dr Stefanie Felsberger, lead author of the report. 'Yet the business model behind their services rests on commercial use, selling user data and insights to third parties for profit.' 'There are real and frightening privacy and safety risks to women as a result of the commodification of the data collected by cycle tracking app companies.' Professor Gina Neff, executive director of Cambridge's Minderoo Centre, added: 'The use of cycle tracking apps is at an all-time high. 'Women deserve better than to have their menstrual tracking data treated as consumer data, but there is a different possible future.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Women issued safety warning over period tracker apps
Experts have warned that women using period tracker apps face "real and frightening privacy and safety risks." Academics from the University of Cambridge have said that personal information within the app can be collected and "sold at scale." A new report from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at Cambridge stated that this poses risks and harms for users. Researchers have said that menstrual data can provide insights into people's health and their reproductive choices. The apps can collect information on exercise, diet, medication, sexual preferences, hormone levels, and contraception use. The authors of the report added that this information can be a "gold mine" for consumer profiling. Many women who download the apps do so when they are trying to get pregnant, which the authors point out leads to a dramatic shift in shopping behaviour. 'Data on who is pregnant, and who wants to be, has therefore emerged as some of the most sought-after information in digital advertising,' they said. The point out how period tracking apps have rapidly risen in popularity, with global downloads of the three most popular apps surpassing 250 million. 'Cycle tracking apps (CTA) are a lucrative business because they provide the companies behind the apps with access to extremely valuable and fine-grained user data,' the experts wrote in their new report. 'CTA data is not only commercially valuable and shared with an inextricable net if third parties (thereby making intimate user information exploitable for targeted advertising), but it also poses severe security risks for users.' They point out that in the wrong hands, the data collected by the apps could result in health insurance 'discrimination'; risks to job prospects or even domestic abuse. The research team called for better governance of the 'femtech' industry, including improved data security of these apps and for them to introduce 'meaningful consent options'. They also called for public health bodies to launch alternatives to commercial tracking apps. 'Menstrual cycle tracking apps are presented as empowering women and addressing the gender health gap,' said Dr Stefanie Felsberger, lead author of the report. 'Yet the business model behind their services rests on commercial use, selling user data and insights to third parties for profit.' 'There are real and frightening privacy and safety risks to women as a result of the commodification of the data collected by cycle tracking app companies.' Professor Gina Neff, executive director of Cambridge's Minderoo Centre, added: 'The use of cycle tracking apps is at an all-time high. 'Women deserve better than to have their menstrual tracking data treated as consumer data, but there is a different possible future.'
