Cycle apps are designed to help women keep track of their fertile days and their periods. However, they collect particularly sensitive data and even pass it on.
Cycle apps on smartphones pass on sensitive data – the most important thing to start with:
These apps act as a notepad for women to monitor and control the cycle. However, the apps' forecasts leave a lot to be desired. In addition, all intimate data is passed on to advertising companies and also Facebook.
Cycle apps are now among the most popular health apps for smartphones. They even occupy second place in the ranking of most popular health apps among teenagers, according to a research team at Columbia University in the United States.
Virtual notepad for women
The apps are often designed in red or pink tones, lovely with cartoons, flowers or moon symbols. They act as a notepad for women who want to monitor and control their cycle with the help of these apps. Be it to plan or prevent pregnancy or even to remind you to take the pill or other contraceptives.
[mk_ad]
Apps collect more information than necessary
With these apps you can enter a lot of information because - so you think - the more you feed the app with details, the more reliable the forecasts will be. You can freely enter data about exercise, nutrition, mood, but also complaints such as digestive problems. You can even enter the time of your last sexual intercourse and whether it was protected or unprotected.
What exactly happens with the entered data and who exactly receives it is difficult for users to understand.
“Data is simply collected once, regardless of whether you need it or not. Profiles are then created and the idea is that you can then advertise specifically,” says Ulrike Docekal, lawyer at the Association for Consumer Information (VKI).
Many companies would receive information just by opening the app.
Pregnant women especially valuable
It can be assumed that a woman who uses such an app monitors her cycle, wants to get pregnant or doesn't want to get pregnant.
This is of course extremely interesting for many companies. However, according to the human rights organization Privacy International, information from pregnant women is particularly valuable for advertisers. A person's data is worth around 10 cents in the USA. If it's about a pregnant woman, however, it's $1.50. The benefit for advertising companies is obvious: Expectant parents buy a lot and change their consumer behavior. With the right advertising, you can easily “give them a hand” with various decisions.
Passing on the data to advertising companies and also Facebook
Ten popular apps were recently analyzed by the Norwegian Consumer Council NCC. It was determined which data was passed on. Among them are two cycle apps: “Clue” and “MyDays”, both of which come from German developers.
[mk_ad]
“Clue” sends the year of birth to AdTech companies and also the Advertising ID, which represents a kind of advertising profile that is also passed on to Facebook. “MyDays”, on the other hand, transmits the location, the IP address and a list of apps installed on the smartphone.
Privacy International also analyzed the data sharing of cycle apps last year.
The two apps “MIA” and “Maya” pass on intimate details to Facebook. Ulrike Docekal points out that no one can guarantee whether the highly sensitive data is secure. Possible gaps cannot be ruled out either.
Imagine if an employer found out about the absence of a period as an indication of a possible pregnancy. A highly problematic topic. Several apps, including “Maya,” have promised improvement following the Privacy International report.
Ulrike Docekal believes that the responsibility for entered data cannot be shifted solely to the users. Unfortunately, existing laws are often not implemented optimally.
“In the event of violations of the Consumer Protection Act, there is the possibility that institutions such as the VKI or the Chamber of Labor can bring a collective action. This does not currently exist when it comes to data protection in Austria,” says Docekal.
Apps unreliable
The German Stiftung Warentest examined 23 cycle apps in 2017.
The result: many apps neither reliably determine menstruation nor fertile days. Free apps in particular are inaccurate. Medical sources are hardly mentioned. Columbia University came to the same conclusion in 2016.
Source: ORF
Article image: Shutterstock / By Jacob Lund
If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:
📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.
Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!
* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

