"Just 1 of 25 Apps That Track Reproductive Health Protect Users’ Data: Report"

Millions of Americans use mobile apps to track their menstrual cycle, sexual activity, and ovulation windows.  Security researchers at the Mozilla Foundation found that the tracked data isn't always protected, and most reproductive health apps have weak privacy protections.  The researchers investigated 25 reproductive health apps and wearable devices, including Flo, Glow, Ovia, Period Tracker Period Calendar, and My Calendar Period Tracker, for their privacy and security practices.  The researchers found that many of these reproductive health apps collect large amounts of personal data from users, ranging from phone numbers, emails, home addresses, dates of menstrual cycles, sexual activity, doctors' appointments, pregnancy symptoms, and more.  Eighteen of the 25 apps analyzed by the researchers received a "Privacy Not Included" warning label, which means the app's privacy policy is dangerously vague and may also carry security concerns.  The researchers found that most apps generally share user data for marketing purposes, so users will get served targeted advertisements.  However, most apps' guidelines were vague when it came to sharing data with law enforcement.   The researchers noted that most of the analyzed apps leaned on vague boilerplate statements that do not include clear guidelines on when and how much user data could be shared with US law enforcement.  The researchers noted that the US does not currently have any federal privacy law that governs the collection and sale of user data among private-sector companies.  There is an effort underway to change that, with legislation introduced last year that would close the legal loophole that allows data brokers to sell Americans' personal data to law enforcement and intelligence agencies without any court oversight.  

The Hill reports: "Just 1 of 25 Apps That Track Reproductive Health Protect Users’ Data: Report"