Latest news with #MinderooCentre
Daily Mirror
16-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'We follow strict protocols' - popular period tracking app hits back at backlash
A report from the University of Cambridge has claimed that menstrual apps are a risk to privacy, but period tracking app Clue has hit back, detailing exactly how they use users' data After the damning report from University of Cambridge that select period tracking apps are harvesting and selling user information, popular tracking app Clue has set the record straight. Clue is a science-based, data-driven menstrual and reproductive health app, trusted by 10 million people globally, and despite their mission to help women - has come under scrutiny following the release of a report from University of Cambridge's Minderoo Centre. The report said the tracking apps were a "gold mine" for consumer profiling. By collecting customer data, it could allow companies to produce targeted advertisements linked to information users think is kept private. Under EU and UK law, the data from these period-tracking apps comes under a special category, which means it should have special protections from being sold on - but this report highlights that consent options are not always enforced or implemented. This then allows the data can be sold to advertisers and tech giants such as Facebook and Google. However Clue has assured users the app follows "strict protocols" when it comes to how data is managed, and said keeping their users safe is at their "core". Clue CEO Rhiannon White told The Mirror: "We adhere to the very strict standards the European GDPR sets for data security and storage. This applies to the data we hold regardless of where in the world our users are located. Our policy and firm commitment is that no matter where our users are in the world, we will never allow their private health data to be used against them. "We have never disclosed such data to any authority, and we never will. Anything that does not fundamentally serve female health and the empowerment of people with cycles would be at odds with our principles at Clue," she added. One of Clue's missions is to help close the research gap in women's health and White assured that when using the data for research, Clue takes the "utmost care and follow strict protocols". She said gaining insight from de-identified data is an "important part of our mission" because the historical lack of data for research into female health is a major contributing factor to the health gap, so will share this anonymised data with researchers from leading global institutions, such as Stanford and University of Oxford. "It is up to each user whether they want to help to close that data gap by consenting to their de-identified data being used for this purpose, which is why we offer granular consent options," and added: "This de-identified data is only shared with user consent and all research projects are carefully vetted against our strict criteria to ensure they're in the interest of our community. Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear from you! "We have never and will never sell or share sensitive data with advertisers, insurers or data brokers. That is not our business model -– our business model is direct to consumer subscriptions, ensuring that our users are our customers, and we serve them." Rhiannon further detailed that the third party tools Clue uses to work are "vetted and assessed" against the strictest GDPR standards and assured they transparently detail exactly what data is handled by each tool and how in the privacy policy. "Our servers are located in the EU in Germany and in Ireland. When your data is sent between your device and our Clue servers, we use encrypted data transmission, which scrambles the information being sent so it's unreadable. Doing this increases the security of your data transfer," she added. But the researchers from the Cambridge study warn that by collecting information, it could allow companies to produce targeted advertisements linked to information users think is kept private. They also worry that if this data gets into the wrong hands, it could even affect access to abortion, health insurance discrimination and cyberstalking as well as risks to job prospects. "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," said Dr Stefanie Felsberger, the lead author of the report. The report calls on organisations such as the NHS and other health bodies to create a "safer" alternative that is trustworthy.
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Period-tracking apps pose ‘significant risks' for users, new report finds
Experts say companies could sell the data of those who use menstrual cycle tracking apps. (Pexels) Menstrual cycle tracking apps could jeopardize the safety and privacy of users, a new report warns, with personal data commonly sold to companies. The stakes are high since period tracking apps have soared in popularity and become ubiquitous amid limited access to information, a lack of research and stigma about menstruation health. A 2024 study estimates that global downloads for the three most popular menstruation cycle tracking apps surpassed 250 million. Those who use apps that track periods often don't consider the data 'intimate' or commercially valuable, and need more protections from potential abuse of their personal information, according to the report released Tuesday by The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy. MCTD is an independent team of academic researchers at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. 'Menstrual tracking applications turn personal health information into data points to be collected, analyzed, and sold,' according to the report. Data sold to companies, advertisers The study noted the apps pose 'significant risks' for users as femtech has become a 'lucrative trend' and the user data is 'extremely valuable' for a wide range of companies, from those that developed the app to big tech firms and advertising industries. Femtech refers to digital products, services or technologies promoting women's health and wellbeing, with period-tracking apps making up 50 per cent of the US$22 billion market in 2020. 'People vastly underestimate the commercial value of menstrual data and the extent to which it can provide insights into their political preferences, health issues, or reproductive choices,' researchers wrote. The apps offer a way for users to track daily information on anything related to their menstrual health, such as menstrual cycles, predictions on periods, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), ovulation and fertility. Security and privacy risks To add to the concerns, researchers say the apps also pose risks to data security and privacy, noting it's widely used in the online advertising industry. 'Self-tracking data has been used to police people's reproductive choices, to undermine a user's testimony in court, and it can lead to increased vulnerability in intimate relationships, partner violence, risks to job prospects via employer access to CTA (cycle tracking application) data, workplace monitoring, or possible health insurance discrimination,' according to the report. Meanwhile, the report also referred to 'severe security risks,' noting an example in the U.K. where period tracker data was used to charge women for illegally accessing abortion services. Are period apps accurate? The study notes many medical studies showed that the apps 'fail to accurately calculate cycle length or ovulation windows' and additional data from people is often not used to improve predictions. Rather, researchers say the information is 'predominantly a source of value' for the companies. 'With most apps providing no or very little information on how predictions are made, a 2023 study found that some users were encouraged to track more data to fine-tune their predictions and train an imagined algorithm,' it wrote. While users commonly turn to the apps to help them conceive or prevent getting pregnant, people with irregular cycles or conditions such as poly-cystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, or premenstrual dysphoric disorder may also use the apps to try to understand their medical issues. Many people use the apps to track their emotions and bodily functions as well. Recommendations The report recommends improving health care for and incentivising research on menstrual and reproductive health, such as through cycle tracking companies and research institutes working together. It encourages schools and organizations to help raise awareness about menstrual tracking for all ages. Additionally, it recommends alternatives, such as public bodies developing apps that are 'trustworthy' and collect data in a 'responsible way.' The report also calls for stricter regulation of menstrual tracking data as 'sensitive health information' in the United States and tighter enforcement of existing regulations in the U.K. and European Union. It suggests improving security through 'consent options,' clear and accessible privacy policies, and prioritizing data privacy and security in the app design. Apps could be more 'transparent' by providing clear information on how tracking data is used to make predictions, with interface options for those who cannot or do not want to become pregnant. The report notes that not all women menstruate and not everyone with menstrual cycles is a woman. For instance, it wrote that children and teenagers have periods, trans men can menstruate and trans women can experience symptoms similar to premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Most apps are designed for straight cis women who want to get pregnant, it added. David Young, a privacy and regulatory law expert in Toronto, told in a video interview Monday that Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act already follows the report's recommendations, though the law is 'not always enforced.' According to Canada's federal privacy law, an organization must not require individuals to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of their information beyond 'explicitly specified, and legitimate purposes.' 'Assuming those specific and legitimate purposes are the tracking that the individual is seeking by use of the app, then they shouldn't be allowed to also require, as a condition of using the app, that they're going to sell that information to somebody else,' Young said. He noted Canada also faces a problem with companies selling consumers' medical data, including electronic health records. Young said menstrual-related cycle data is considered 'sensitive personal health information.' 'And that has a very high standard of compliance under any privacy law, meaning that there must be clear ... consent to for whatever uses are going to be made of that information. So it's not something you can just use by way of implied consent.'
Daily Mirror
12-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Period tracking app users warned of 'frightening safety risk' amid data concerns
Period tracking apps may pose a huge privacy risk to users amid concerns about companies selling the data, according to a recent report from the University of Cambridge Women who use period tracking apps have been warned over privacy fears that their data is being sold to third party companies. These cycle tracking apps are an increasingly popular way for women to understand their menstrual cycle and there have been over 250 million downloads of the three biggest apps - Flo, Clue and Period Tracker. However a damning report from University of Cambridge's Minderoo Centre said the tracking apps were a "gold mine" for consumer profiling. By collecting information, it could allow companies to produce targeted advertisements linked to information users think is kept private. The researchers also warn that if this data gets into the wrong hands, it could even affect access to abortion, health insurance discrimination and cyberstalking as well as risks to job prospects. READ MORE: 'We're empowering women to take charge of their health - new police guidance pushes us back' "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," said Dr Stefanie Felsberger, the lead author of the report. The report calls on organisations such as the NHS and other health bodies to create a "safer" alternative that is trustworthy. Under EU and UK law, the data from these period-tracking apps comes under a special category, which means it should have special protections from being sold on - but this report highlights that consent options are not always enforced or implemented. This then allows the data can be sold to advertisers and tech giants such as Facebook and Google. If the data is sold on, it can be used to target women with tailored adverts for different parts of their cycle such as beauty ads popping up during ovulation, as well as ads relating to pregnancy. According to BBC, researchers said data on who is pregnant, and who wants to be, was some of the "most sought-after information in digital advertising" as it led to a shift in shopping patterns and can be up to 200 times more valuable than data on gender, age and location. Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear from you! Dr Felsberger added: "Menstrual cycle tracking apps are presented as empowering women and addressing the gender health gap. 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." Worryingly, the data can also be used against women when it comes to having an abortion. In the UK, data from apps designed to aid women's health has been requested by police in investigations into women illegally accessing abortion services, according to a Tortoise Media investigation. The guidance released in January 2025 by the National Police Chiefs' Council stated that women who experience a sudden unexpected pregnancy loss, and if the police suspect a miscarriage, stillbirth or early labour is the result of an illegal abortion could be investigated by the authorities. The Mirror spoke to Rhiannon White, CEO of period tracking app Clue on the report, who said she was "disappointed" to see these headlines. "Clue was created, to give women and people with cycles the knowledge and agency around our menstrual and reproductive health that our public health systems have historically failed to. "We firmly believe that as women and people with cycles, our health data must serve us and never be used against us or for anyone else's agenda or commercial benefit. Our app serves our user community–not the agendas of advertisers, insurance companies, data brokers, or anyone else." The CEO continued: "We are a women-led company, CE-marked as a Class I medical device and independently governed under the strictest guidelines of the EU/UK GDPR. We always treat our member data with utmost care, taking all necessary precautions (and more) to ensure it's secure and protected. "We are disappointed to see in these headlines how the female health experience is continually framed from a narrow fertility lens, when we know the vast majority of our members (over 97%) use the app to track a variety of menstrual and cycle related symptoms." She added: "Our de-identified dataset powers critical research into conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, and cycle-related pain, helping to close historic gaps in women's health. The assumption that an overwhelmed public health system can exceed the quality of data protection, medical research, and user-first insight that Clue has prioritised for over a decade is something we welcome a discussion around. We see value in collaboration with any partner or public health entity who wants to join us in moving women's health forward." Sue Khan, VP of Security and Data Protection Officer at Flo told the Mirror: "We support all efforts and research to ensure women feel as safe as possible when using their period tracking apps, and believe the highest standards of data protection must be applied by femtech services in order to protect the rights and freedoms of users. "At Flo, implementing and advocating for best-in-class privacy practices so women's health data can be treated with the utmost respect and care is our priority, and that will never change. We have never - and will never - monetise or sell user data. We do not see personal data as a commodity, and categorically reject the notion that women's health data should be treated as a goldmine for advertising. Our business model is solely subscription-based and does not depend on the exploitation of reproductive information. "We firmly believe it's 'your body, your data'. In 2022, Flo created Anonymous Mode, a first-of-its-kind, award-winning technology that gives users the option to access the Flo app without name, email address, or any technical identifiers being associated with their health information. This means that no one — not Flo, not authorities, no one — can identify the user upon request. We also open-sourced our Anonymous Mode, meaning that any femtech or health tech company could use this technology if they wish. Because safeguarding women's rights isn't a competitive advantage—it's a collective responsibility."
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- 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.'
Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Women's data from period tracking apps ‘being sold at scale'
Period tracking apps are a 'privacy risk' to women, University of Cambridge researchers have warned in a new report. The technology experts said private data from the apps, which track menstrual cycles and are often used by women who want to conceive, were being collected and 'sold at scale'. The researchers from the university's Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy said that this 'poses risks and harms for users'. Menstrual data can provide insights into women's health and their reproductive choices. The apps contain data on exercise, diet, medication, sexual preferences, hormone levels and contraception use. This information was a 'gold mine' for consumer profiling and was often being sold on to third-parties, the report said. Fertility data 'most sought-after' Many women who download the apps do so when they are trying to get pregnant, which the authors said leads to a dramatic shift in shopping behaviour. They said: 'Data on who is pregnant, and who wants to be, has therefore emerged as some of the most sought-after information in digital advertising.' The team said the period tracking apps have rapidly risen in popularity, with global downloads of the three most popular apps surpassing 250 million. The experts said: '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. 'CTA data is not only commercially valuable and shared with an inextricable net of third parties (thereby making intimate user information exploitable for targeted advertising), but it also poses severe security risks for users.' Need for 'consent options' They pointed out that in the wrong hands, the data collected by the apps regarding pregnancy status 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, which should have 'meaningful consent options'. They also called for public health bodies such as the NHS to launch alternatives to commercial tracking apps that would give women more assurance about how their data is collected and used. 'Real and frightening' safety risks Stefanie Felsberger, lead author of the report, said: 'Menstrual cycle tracking apps are presented as empowering women and addressing the gender health gap. '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.' Prof 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.'
