Period-tracking apps face intense data privacy scrutiny in wake of Roe reversal

Some might be better off with a paper journal

There are many consequences in the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In addition to relinquishing federal protections for the right to abortion, it also overturned a loosely-couched constitutional right to privacy as determined in Roe v. Wade. At the same time HR departments across the country scramble to figure out what to do, manufacturers of women's birth control, contraception, and fertility products are dealing with the challenges of protecting the privacy of their customers while maintaining advanced web-integrated features.

Apptopia (via TechCrunch) reports on the post-Dobbs churn in the user bases of period and ovulation tracking apps including Eve, Flo, Glow, Period Tracker from GP Apps, and others. Relative newcomer Stardust saw more than 300,000 of its 400,000-plus lifetime iOS installs arrive over the weekend after the verdict while Clue saw a surge to 15th-most installed app on the App Store before settling at No. 93.

TechCrunch, however, makes the point that the publishers behind these apps might talk a good game, but that it'll be on the users to fend for themselves. Most companies have a privacy policy that allows them to transfer user data to the government as part of a request — a subpoena, for example.

It doesn't help that apps can be shoddy or shady in the first place. Reporters found that Stardust was sending phone numbers of its users with Mixpanel, a data analysis company, though no health-related data was shared. Flo has announced it is developing an "anonymous mode" for its app. It also settled with the FTC last year for misrepresenting how it shared user data to Facebook, Google, and other platforms.

For what it's worth, data recorded through the Apple Health app and stored in a user's iCloud account is protected with end-to-end encryption which Apple says it doesn't have the key to decode.

Google-owned Fitbit and Samsung offer menstrual tracking services where users can log their activities. Both companies admit in their privacy policies that they may need to surrender user data in order to comply with law. We've reached out to both Google and Samsung for statements.