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Scoop
4 hours ago
- Health
- Scoop
Popular Period-Tracking Apps Can Hold Years Of Personal Data – New NZ Research Finds Mixed Awareness Of Risk
Period-tracking apps are popular digital tools for a range of menstrual, reproductive and general health purposes. But the way these apps collect and use data involves risk. Many apps encourage users to log information well beyond their menstrual cycle, including sexual activity, medications, sleep quality, exercise, social activity and perimenopause symptoms. As well as this logged data, apps often collect location and other personally identifiable information. Period tracking apps may pose a particularly high risk in places where abortion is illegal because user data may be accessed by law enforcement on request. Our new research examines how aware app users in Aotearoa New Zealand are of these risks. We found a range of levels of understanding and perspectives on risk, from untroubled to concerned and deeply worried about the implications of digital tracking for reproductive rights. Privacy, data and risk The first period-tracking app was released in 2013. Since then, hundreds of such apps have been created, with collectively hundreds of millions of downloads worldwide. A recent analysis found app downloads are particularly prevalent in North America, Europe, Australia and Aotearoa. The same study found three apps – Flo, Clue and Period Tracker – make up the majority of downloads. Some period apps can link to and import information from other apps and wearables. For example, Clue can link to and import information from the Oura smart ring and Apple Health, both of which gather personal health metrics. Flo can similarly import information from other health apps. A recent analysis of period app privacy policies found they often collect a range of personally identifiable information. Personal health data flows to third parties Some participants in our research have used an app for a decade or longer. This means the app holds a comprehensive database of years of intimate health data and other personal information, including some which they may not have chosen to provide. This data can be used by a range of third parties in commercial, research or other applications, sometimes without app users' explicit knowledge or consent. One study found many period apps exported more data than was declared in privacy policies, including to third parties. Another study reported that apps changed privacy policies without obtaining user consent. Apps can also infer sensitive information not explicitly logged by users by combining data. In 2021, Flo reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission on charges over its sharing of user data with marketing and analytics companies without user consent. App privacy policies often state that user data may be accessed by law enforcement on request, which is a major concern in places where abortion is illegal. Users may explicitly log the start and end of pregnancies, but pregnancy can also be inferred or predicted using other data. In some cases, period app data may therefore reveal a user's miscarriage or abortion. Making sense of the risk in New Zealand Our exploration of user attitudes about the risk of period-tracking apps has revealed that about half of participants were unconcerned about their data. Some imagined positive uses for their data, such as improving the app or contributing to reproductive healthcare research. These potential uses are often highlighted by period-tracking apps in marketing materials. Other participants were concerned about their data. Some had risk minimisation strategies, including limiting what information they logged. Concerned participants were often resigned to uncontrolled uses of their data. One said: [there's] no such thing as private data these days. Another thought that: everyone that does anything online […] is kind of accepting the fact that your data is being potentially accessed and used by third parties. It's just kind of where it is now. About a third of participants in our study contextualised their concerns with respect to reproductive rights and abortion access, especially since the 2022 overturn of Roe v Wade in the US. Others wondered if what happened in the US could happen in New Zealand. One participant referenced concepts such as rangatiratanga and mana motuhake (self determination) when thinking about period app data. She said: I worry about the politics that happen overseas coming here to Aotearoa […] knowing that I don't have full control or rangatiratanga over the data I provide. I worry for all users about what this information can be used for in future, as much as we like to say 'this is New Zealand, that would never happen here', we have no idea. With gender and reproductive rights at risk around the world, such concerns are reasonable and justified. Study participants used period-tracking apps for diverse reasons, including to plan for periods, to track pain and communicate it to doctors, to help get pregnant, and to learn about their bodies. Some participants told us that using period apps was empowering. Some perceived period apps as risky, with limits to how they can mitigate the risk. Menstruators shouldn't have to trade data privacy and security in order to access the benefits of period-tracking apps. Legislators and policy makers should understand the benefits and risks and ensure strong data protections are in place.
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Dr Suzanne Crowe: FemTech can fight medical misogyny — but not if it's going to be used to monitor us
A couple of months ago I was contacted through LinkedIn seeking support for a start-up company keen to target women seeking health services using a digital platform. Specifically, mental health services. As a mother of two young women, my interest was piqued by the term the company used in the description of their innovative product: FemTech. FemTech is the term for the pairing of technology with women's health and wellbeing. It was coined in 2016 by Ida Tin, a Danish entrepreneur who co-founded a menstrual tracking app called Clue. In almost a decade, there has been an explosion of devices, services and software applications aimed at longstanding deficits in women's healthcare. Novel technology solutions include contraceptive prescription and delivery, fertility-tracking and advice, health support for new mothers and their newborn babies, at-home testing for sexually transmitted infections, smart lactation pads, osteoporosis predictors, and psychology assessments. As one friend put it to me, "men get trading platforms for shares and fitness trackers, women get sold stuff to 'fix' their bodies". FemTech is now a massive industry, with Flo, the period-tracking app valued at almost a billion dollars. Dr Suzanne Crowe: 'It's hard not to see the rapid growth of FemTech as a comment on women's healthcare as it is currently provided.' Picture: Moya Nolan Both my daughters have used menstrual apps since they were young teenagers, enjoying the accessibility and responsiveness. It's a world away from the coy TV ads I grew up with, depicting strange blue fluid being poured onto pads. Historically, medical research focused almost uniquely on white men, and women's health concerns were often overlooked or dismissed. Dr Hazel Wallace's book The Female Factor captures the extent of medical misogyny and women's exclusion from diagnosis and treatment. Restriction extended to the development of medications, where women were excluded from testing for many years, leading to dose ranges based only on men's bodies. Coupled with a pervasive shame attached to sexual health, mental health and women's bodies, traditional medical practice has unwittingly created a significant gap which healthcare 'disruptors' are eager to capitalize on. This is largely a positive thing. But if technology solutions become the dominant offering, they may contribute to leaving ever-increasing service gaps unaddressed. Technology bypasses some issues but not all, fostering more empowered, but increasingly frustrated, women who continue to require intervention from an overwhelmed local hospital. It is a tool, not a replacement for a functioning health service. Technology won't do much to change attitudes among healthcare professionals to women's health needs either – that needs to come from deep listening, respect, kindness and education. The potential benefits are clear: technology empowers women to input their personal information, identify symptom patterns, and possible health issues, and use that data to receive personalised healthcare. Using software, they can consider a diagnosis, learn what their choices are, and make informed decisions. Digital platforms carry no judgment, with women from different ethnic origins and/or the LGBT+ community finding understanding there. Of course, empathic patient-focused care, delivered in partnership is fundamental to healthcare. So, it's hard not to see the rapid growth of FemTech as a comment on women's healthcare as it is currently provided. As FemTech moves to fill a perceived gap, it would be easier to leave traditional views undisturbed rather than reflecting on how our people-based service can improve. Just as vinyl records gave way to CDs, and CDs ceded to music streaming, traditional health services must apply humility, excise stigma and barriers, and improve their offerings or be left behind. Data tracking Not only do we risk losing our imperfect humanity in a technology-dominated health service, but we also risk the negative consequences of commercialising health data. Putting a price on data and its interpretation may make this assistive technology too expensive for the marginalised groups it was aspiring to reach. More worryingly, a research group in Cambridge University's Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy have raised significant concerns about the use of data collected by fertility tracking apps. Data collected on apps is designated 'special category' rather than treated as medical data from a regulation perspective. It potentially could provide a valuable advertising tool for companies – or worse. The report's authors caution that information from cycle tracking apps in the wrong hands could result in risks to job prospects, workplace monitoring, health insurance discrimination, and in some countries, limit access to termination of pregnancy. In an ideal world, new digital solutions would become publicly owned, allowing integration into real-life health services, leading to better outcomes for society. However, tech entrepreneurs are not going to wait for Valhalla. As women's healthcare needs are finally validated, it is vital that new technologies are evaluated for potential benefits, and or potential harms. Any likely harms, for example compromise of privacy, require informed consent and regulation, especially when it comes to the retention and use of highly personal data. FemTech is here to stay. We must ensure the hand guiding its use is an ethical one. Dr Suzanne Crowe, consultant in paediatric intensive care, President of the Medical Council Read More A period of life we need to talk about — the stigma that still surrounds menstruation
ITV News
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
Tens of thousands expected in Manchester for Parklife with headliners Charlie XCX and 50 Cent
Tens of thousands of music lovers are expected to at Manchester's Heaton Park for the return of Parklife festival. About 80,000 people are expected for the two-day event in Manchester on Saturday and Sunday, where rapper 50 Cent and singer Charli XCX will headline. Other names include R&B singer Jorja Smith, DJs Peggy Gou and PAWSA, along with chart-topper Lola Young. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the popular festival, with over 100 acts taking to a number of different stages. The main stage will see the following performances: Saturday 12:00-14:15 - Rich Reason & Yami 14:15-14:45 - JD Cliffe 15:15-16:00 - Antony Szmierek 16:30-17:00 - Flo 17:45-18:45 - Rudimental 19:45-20:30 - Jorja Smith 21:30-22:45 - 50 Cent Sunday 13:00-14:00 - Gina Breeze 14:00-15:00 - Jodie Harsh 15:30-16:15 - Marc Rebillet 16:30-17:30 - Girls Don't Sync 18:00-18:45 - Confidence Man 19:15-20:45 - Peggy Gou 21:30-22:45 - Charli XCX The full line-up is here. People heading to the festival are being encouraged to plan their journeys, with a number of other events, including concerts at Co-op Live arena, happening across the city. National Highways is warning drivers that congestion is likely around the local motorway network around Manchester at key times over the weekend. Lionel Richie and Chris Brown are playing at Co-op Live and Catfish and the Bottlemen are also performing at Heaton Park on Friday 13 June. Annual football fund raiser Soccer Aid is also taking place at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, 15 June.
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."
Metro
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Metro
Chelsea told to sign 'exciting' €28m Norway international star in summer window
Tore Andre Flo believes his former club Chelsea should sign Norway international star Antonio Nusa in the summer transfer window. The Blues are looking to recruit a new winger after sending Jadon Sancho back to Manchester United following his loan spell in west London. They are already in talks to sign Borussia Dortmund's Jamie Gittens but Flo feels Nusa – who plays for RB Leipzig – should also be in Chelsea's sights. The 20-year-old, who is valued at €28m (£23.6m) by Transfermarkt, can be deployed as a winger or attacking midfielder and is under contract with his current club until 2029. Flo has been left impressed by his Norwegian compatriot after his performance in the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Italy on Friday, in which Nusa assisted his country's first goal and then scored the second. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. 'I've been watching the national team for a bit now,' Flo, who played 76 times for Norway from 1995 to 2004, told Metro via Nusa joined Bundesliga side RB Leipzig from Club Brugge in August 2024, signing a five-year deal. He's played 36 times for RB Leipzig to date, conjuring up a total of 12 goal involvements. Nusa has particularly impressed on the international stage for Norway, scoring five goals and registering seven assists across 14 caps. 'There are some big superstars in there but [Chelsea] wouldn't be able to buy Erling Haaland or Martin Odegaard. There is a player called Antonio Nusa. 'I think he is very, very exciting. I've just seen him play against Italy and he was amazing in that game. I think he'd be possible to buy for a big club like Chelsea.' Meanwhile, Flo feels that AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan is a 'very smart' signing for his old club in the summer transfer window. 'There has been a lot of talk about the goalkeeping position at Chelsea,' Flo said. 'I think it was on the cards that something was going to happen there. 'It sounds like a good signing to me. A club like Chelsea would improve the squad straight away if there was any doubt [over Robert Sanchez]. To me it sounds very, very smart.' Chelsea signed Ipswich striker Liam Delap in a £30m deal this summer and Flo has set a goal target for his first season at Stamford Bridge. More Trending 'If you are a striker for Chelsea, there is a chance to score well over 20 goals,' Flo added. 'If you want to be successful you need to score 20. But it depends on how he will share his time playing [with Nicolas Jackson]. 'Is one going to play 80 per cent of the time? So it's hard to put a number – but I think it's possible to get 20.' MORE: Next Brentford manager odds make little-known candidate favourite MORE: Club World Cup Supercomputer predicts shock winner and Chelsea misery MORE: 'They're in a bit of a hole' – France star reveals why he rejected Man Utd transfer
