2 days ago
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.'
