Menstruation applications unnecessarily store personal information such as what medications women are taking, their birth control habits and how hard it is for women to reach orgasm, privacy activists say.
A study of five leading applications by Privacy International, an organization that helps the poor in the UK, found that companies carry information close to users including answers to questions about whether they have yeast infections and how often they have sex or see a gynecologist.
What Does The Research Suggest?
The use of menstrual systems has increased in recent years, with increasing numbers of women using them to record their cycle and help them become pregnant.
International privacy argues that registration should be optional in these applications, and should not require an email address. They want the data to be stored on the phone, adding that only data needed to provide information about the menstrual cycle should be collected.
It follows a study from a charity last year that found that some apps shared their users’ profiles with Facebook.
Their latest research has been described by legal experts, former ministers and charities as “extremely disruptive”.
Eva Blum-Dumontet, a senior researcher at Privacy International, who used five applications and then asked what information was stored about her using a data acquisition application, said reading these discoveries was “shocking” and “makes us see how much data those apps collect , keep them and sometimes share them with others. ”
She added that it is easy to assume that data is disappearing from the ether when we are constantly asked to share more “and that is why asking for our data in the apps we use is a good exercise.”
Ravi Naik, legal director of the AWO Data Rights Agency, said the revelations were worrying, adding that transparency was important in these applications.
The Apps
The study found Flo, a period tracker and a pregnancy app, which keeps track of what users are writing in their “notes” section. They have kept a variety of answers to questions including how difficult it is for women to have an orgasm. Another section of the app allows users to record which medications they are taking are also accessible on the platform.
Flo shares information with a number of third-party companies, who claim to improve how the app works.
A spokesman for Flo said: “Like any app, Flo uses third-party service providers to better understand the use of its product to improve user experience and ensure the accuracy of the app information that our trustees rely on. user and third-party advertising companies or other applications other than helping to improve app performance. ”
Clue, an app developed by Biowink, had maximum access to users’ birthdays, if the birth control section had been completed, and if Fitbit was enabled. Every time a user interacts with the app, data is collected and stored and stored in the device ID and location. The company shares information with many external parties.
A Clue spokesperson said it has never sold or would sell data. They said they stored user data safely. It also helped fix bugs. They added that data helps them carry out research with academic universities and other organisations, noting that in that instance all datasets are de-identified before being shared.
A spokesman for the Office of the Information Commissioner, UK for data protection, said: “Under the data protection law, organizations must ensure that their processing is fair, legal and transparent and that appropriate security is in place. In addition, special category information – such as health information – of it. ”
