Period FAQs

are period tracking apps safe

by Earlene Kemmer Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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Concerns have now been raised over period tracking apps' data practices and security, and what their use could mean for those able to get pregnant in the future. The message is simple: You should stop using them. As warned by Professor Gina Neff, you should "delete every digital trace of any menstrual tracking."Jun 29, 2022

Full Answer

Are period trackers safe to use?

Otherwise, for outright security safety, Budington said, “In the case of period trackers, Consumer Reports found that the best apps (both in policy and in practice) on the scale of user privacy were Euki, Periodical, and Drip.” However, regardless of the user privacy of any app, that doesn’t secure the information available locally on your device.

Is your period tracking app confidential?

Period tracking apps are mostly a good thing, but when the confidential data you provide is compromised, it may be time to move on to a more honest company. For example, Flo, a popular menstrual and fertility tracking app came under fire due to allegations that the company was selling its users’ data to platforms like Google and Facebook.

Will apps that track periods and menstrual cycles help prevent abortion bans?

Two apps that help track women’s periods and menstrual cycles are reassuring their tens of millions of users that they will not hand over sensitive data to authorities in states that have either banned or severely restricted abortions. The apps, Flo and Clue, reacted on Friday to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v.

Are there any period apps that don't sell data?

Check out the five best period apps that promise not to sell your data: Clue is a popular period and ovulation tracker complete with a built-in ovulation calendar for user convenience. The app uses science to record and analyze user data to help women have healthier and less painful periods.

What Does a Period Tracker App Do With Your Data?

How Does a Period Tracker App Collect Data?

Should I Delete My Period Tracker App?

Are There Any Period Tracker Apps Which Are Safe to Use?

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What Does a Period Tracker App Do With Your Data?

When you are recording very intimate data about your body and period, the last thing you want to do is share it with anybody else.

How Does a Period Tracker App Collect Data?

All period tracker apps collect data when you use them. This can be collecting your age and location data from your profile, or any symptom data which you may log daily or monthly into the app.

Should I Delete My Period Tracker App?

Some personal data is required for the functionality of a health app. But, if you are worried about your data, privacy, or the impact using a period tracker might have , the best thing to do is delete the app.

Are There Any Period Tracker Apps Which Are Safe to Use?

Following Privacy International’s 2019 exposure of period tracker apps which were sharing data, many of the investigated apps since changed their policies. This has improved, but not resolved, the issue.

What is the Dweck app?

Dweck, this app allows you to customize everything from its watercolor theme to the style of your period reminders as either personal ("your period is due on...") or discreet ("upcoming event...").

Is Cycles a good app?

iTunes. Cycles is ultra-customizable but also just looks good. With simple graphics and soothing colors, this is the period tracking app you want to download if you don’t want anyone to know you’ve downloaded a period tracking app (so you can semi-discreetly update it in public when you need to).

Can a period tracking app be wrong?

Yes, period tracking apps can sometimes be wrong—especially if you're a woman with an irregular or variable cycle. "For example, if your cycle ranges from 28 to 32 days in length, the ovulatory window shifts three to four days each month," Dr. Kudesia says. "Though the app shouldn’t miss the entire fertile window, it may be unable to pinpoint the exact day of ovulation." Similarly, if you have a cycle longer than 35 days, there is, in Dr. Kudesia's words, "a substantial likelihood" that you're not regularly ovulating, which the app may not flag as possibility.

Is period tracking app accurate?

The answer: They should be—that is, if you're a woman who has a regular ovulatory cycle and who habitually updates the app.

Is Flo a tracker?

Bonus: Flo also turns into a pregnancy tracker if and when you ever need it to, so it’s pretty all-in-one.

Can you track your cycle on your Apple Watch?

Available through the iPhone Health app that's already built into the phone, Cycle Tracking gives you the ability to log info related to your cycle, including flow level, symptoms like cramps and mood changes, and basal body temp if you're looking to get pregnant.

Does a fertility tracker help with your period?

It’s technically a fertility tracker so it really excels in helping you chart your basal body temperature, cervical position, and cervical mucus. But, unlike a lot of other fertility trackers, it has the ability to chart your period, too, and gives you predictions about your menstruation or fertility based on the data you input.

What Does a Period Tracker App Do With Your Data?

When you are recording very intimate data about your body and period, the last thing you want to do is share it with anybody else.

How Does a Period Tracker App Collect Data?

All period tracker apps collect data when you use them. This can be collecting your age and location data from your profile, or any symptom data which you may log daily or monthly into the app.

Should I Delete My Period Tracker App?

Some personal data is required for the functionality of a health app. But, if you are worried about your data, privacy, or the impact using a period tracker might have , the best thing to do is delete the app.

Are There Any Period Tracker Apps Which Are Safe to Use?

Following Privacy International’s 2019 exposure of period tracker apps which were sharing data, many of the investigated apps since changed their policies. This has improved, but not resolved, the issue.

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