Wade in May, many called for users to delete their period-tracking apps amid fears that the data they collect - and subsequently share - could be used to target and punish those seeking an abortion.Įva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, tells TechCrunch: “I do think that we are facing a future in which the data collected by period-tracking apps could be used either as a dragnet to identify women who may have had an abortion or as evidence that a woman has had an abortion in a future in which seeking out or having an abortion is criminalized, which is something anti-abortion advocates have been eager to do.” Should you be worried? In light of the leaked draft decision to overturn Roe v. Monitoring menstrual cycles has proven to be a lucrative business for developers, many of which share users’ personal information and activity on the apps with third-party marketers and advertisers.
Though popular, and undoubtedly a useful tool for those who want to plan and avoid pregnancy and track signs of menopause, it’s no secret that the objective of many of these apps - of which there are more than a thousand in the app stores alone - go far beyond that of tracking periods. We have republished this piece with a new headline to reflect the law change. The decision comes weeks after a rare leaked draft of the court’s opinion, which reignited the years-long conversation about the privacy - or lack thereof - of period-tracking apps, which are used by nearly a third of women in the United States.Įditor’s note: This piece was first published on May 5, prior to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. The move means abortion rights are now protected in less than half of all U.S. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that guaranteed a person’s constitutional right to abortion, allowing states to decide whether to heavily regulate or ban the procedure.
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