Although menstrual and pregnancy tracking applications seem to be very popular and simple ‘reminder’ applications among women, it can be said that they provide great convenience in terms of functionality. Most women are satisfied with the service these apps offer, but how much do we know about the security they offer?
A new study by Mozilla researchers has revealed that menstrual and pregnancy tracking apps have poor privacy and security compared to other popular apps. The importance of the confidentiality of all kinds of medical data is indisputable, but the confidentiality of data in menstrual and pregnancy tracking applications may become even more important, especially in countries such as the USA where some ‘anti-abortion’ laws are discussed.
Of the 25 apps reviewed, 18 failed to meet privacy standards
Researchers scrutinized the 25 most popular mobile and wearable device applications that offer menstrual and pregnancy tracking services in order to reach the most reliable data on the subject. Most of these apps and devices declined to say whether or under what circumstances they would share user data with law enforcement.
18 out of 25 apps received warning labels from Mozilla for their ‘privacy’ features. These labels are given to applications that are ‘at risk’ regarding their privacy, data collection policies, how they share or protect the data they collect. Among the services reviewed, Garmin, Fitbit, Apple Watch, Oura Ring and Whoop Strap met Mozilla’s standards and did not receive any tags.
Menstruation and pregnancy tracking applications can provide benefits to women with the services they provide, as well as enabling official institutions to identify people who have had abortions in countries and regions where abortion is prohibited. However, the data stored by these applications is not the only tool in the hands of law enforcement officers to identify the criminals(!) in this regard; Google search results and even Facebook messages can also detect abortion operations.
Your personal data may fall into the hands of hackers
However, the only danger in this regard is not the possibility that the data can be shared with law enforcement. As a result, menstrual and pregnancy tracking applications are included in the ‘health’ category and many health and personal data are entered into the application. Weak security means that this data can easily pass into the hands of hackers, and your data can go up for sale on the dark web.
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