They shouldn’t be collecting it in the first place, store the logs locally (and encrypted tbh) on the user’s device.
But it will still disclose that data to advertising companies which WILL give it to the authorities for a nominal fee
Also, why does the app keep that data in a centralized location where it can be scooped up like that?
And more importantly, people have known that everything is spyware since the Snowden leaks, why the hell would you ever give that kind of data to an app on your phone? Even if the app was totally E2EE and private, other things on your phone do all kinds of spying
Why in the fuck would the government need this information?
dystopian hellscape where government has an algorithm to check whether your period has come in a given month, and if you’ve missed more than a few weeks, you’ll be listed as pregnant. And then if you’re not pregnant anymore for any reason other than giving birth, then you’ll be prosecuted for having an abortion.
To prosecute criminals. Like women not following a shit take like “Your body, my choice”. Or terrorists. With wombs? Idk.
This shit is just fucked up.
When they start prosecuting women for miscarriages and suspected abortions under Trump’s national abortion ban.
That’s not a need, that’s a want. The government doesn’t get to do whatever they want.
In dumbfuckistan they do.
Literally on video saying he doesn’t want a national abortion ban, but now they are going to take data from period apps? Even the pro lifers aren’t this unhinged.
For a guy who doesn’t want a ban he seems awfully proud of overturning roe vs Wade. There’s literally only one reason to do that
Why else would he overturn it?
Why else would he keep claiming people are aborting after birth lol.
I think I know how he won now. I’m Australian and it turns out even I’ve been paying better attention than you
Ken Paxton’s actions in Texas say otherwise.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump either signs the bill when it gets to his desk or if he just lets it sit there for 10 days and it automatically becomes law without a veto.
Give a sec, they’ll get there
Lol yes they are.
Each time you think you have seen a bottom to the barrel to how low they will stoop, be prepared to be disappointed as they drill right through it and show you a whole new bottom. This bottom too will be shattered.
Mark my words.
It’s also literally on video where he said project 2025 isn’t his platform. Guess what.
China had a database that stored fertility information including information like in the article leak a few years back too. Worse cause it leaked/got hacked. Creepy AF
Why does a period tracking app even need to store the data anywhere other than locally?
their given reasons are “to keep backups” and “academic and clinical research with de-identified datasets”
they seem to actually do a fairly good job with anonymizing the research datasets, unlike most “anonymized research data”, though for the raw data stored on their servers, they do not seem to use encryption properly and their security model is “the cloud hoster wouldn’t spy on the data right?” (hint: their data is stored on american servers, so the american authorities can just subpoena Amazon Web Services directly, bypassing all their “privacy guarantees”. (the replacement for the EU-US Privacy Shield seems to be on very uncertain legal grounds, and that was before the election))
De-identified data is an oxymoron. Basically any dataset that’s in any way interesting is identifiable.
no it’s not. If you reduce the information in the datapoints until none of them are unique, then it is very obviously impossible to uniquely identify someone from them. And when you have millions of users the data can definitely still be kept interesting
(though there’s pretty big pitfalls here, as their report seems to leave open the possibility of not doing it correctly)
de-identified
Doubt.
Sometimes people get new phones 🤷♀️
Then that data should be stored encrypted, salted, hashed, smashed, mashed, and passed so that only the person who is moving phones can open it
Not just for being made to give it over but also like leaks n shit
Boiled too
stick em in a stew?
Sure, personally I think we should do that for all personal data. It’s a bit depressing that period trackers are being targeted in this way though.
dude, phones have built-in functions to transfer data seamlessly, i helped my dad with that a while back and it amounts to pressing some buttons and putting the phones on top of each other…
if that’s too difficult i think you need a personal assistant.
You can what?! I’ve been using a USB drive…
Not that I’m complaining, the USB is easy enough, but of what wizardry do you speak?
I think it’s only available on stock OSes, it’s one of those things we tech nerds sacrifice for freedom.
But for the kind of person who uses a period app connected to the internet, yeah that’s not a problem lmao.fwiw there are apps to make migrating easier on custom OSes as well, a quick search shows at least BARIA on f-droid.
Oh cool I’ll check out Baria, thanks!
Why are you being so condescending?
Phones get lost, stolen, damaged beyond repair. I knew a woman whose phone fell into a body of water on vacation and couldn’t be recovered.
When you have an app used by millions of people, which they depend on for tracking wellness, health issues, reproductive planning, etc. it makes sense to have a cloud backup for those inevitable situations.
Also yes, not everyone knows how to initiate an NFC file transfer, or even how to navigate their phone’s file system to select the data to transfer. You often have to develop software to the lowest common denominator. There’s open source options like Mensinator for people who want more control and privacy, but most software on the app store is targeted at less technical people.
Why US gov need to know about people’s period?, that’s weird and creepy
To get the needle, you need the whole haystack. Collect everything decrypt later
tf is usa on, why they need perios statistics
So they can prosecute people for getting illegal abortions.
typical Trump presidency bullshit. Yet they fail to prosecuate many gangsters and rich money launderers. like this was the biggest problem ever
This is awesome, thank you for your service! Goddamn, the premises around that are just… sad.
That’s nice, but why does that data need to be on their servers in the first place?Ok, so apparently they don’t store the data by default. Guessing they could if the user wants it backed up or synced across devices.
I imagine they collect data to improve their algorithm so it can more accurately predict a woman’s cycle. Quite a few women use these apps as an alternative birth control, so knowing the specific days where they need to avoid sex is helpful.
Normally, I’d install the app to find out, but I can’t really install any more apps on my phone. And oh man, do I never like seeing the phrase “collect data to improve [their] algorithm”.
In general, medical predictions are a very good example of using AI to benefit humanity, not just shareholders. It’s still scary if it’s done by a private company.
It’s a German company, so I have no idea if they have an equivalent to HIPAA(USA) or if a private company would even have to comply with it.
Any woman on here, please consider bluemoon. My wife is tech illiterate but loves the app.
Bluemoon (Open source, privacy friendly menstruation tracking app. Your period, your data!) https://f-droid.org/packages/ch.nilsgrob.android.bluemoon/
I can recommend Mensinator. It includes logging and calculated ovulation day too. Something I could not see in bluemoon screenshots.
Mensinator
Sounds like something from Doofenshmirtz.
Doofenshmirtz Evil incorporateeeeed
Can I get a reminder about the apps that WILL share with the govt so I can help fuck with their data?
All US-based apps and all the apps that store their data in US-owned cloud providers at very least.
US based apps that’s are end-to-end encrypted where you control the private keys cannot physically share as they won’t have access. Even if it’s in their cloud.
If the nice people at the FBI show up to your door with a warrant from a secret court set up by Trump show up to your office telling you either implement a backdoor in your app or everyone goes to jail forever, what do you do?
the devs don’t even need to know about it. google has the app signing keys, they can make a change anytime they want. read my reply to their comment
Start blasting.
until they get forced to issue an update that steals your key.
assuming you installed the app from google play.
since for a few years now google holds the signing keys that are used for verifying that the app has not been tampered with, the app developer is not even needed for this. google can make the changes, sign the app with the key they already have, and push an update to your phone.
Probably the rest of them.
I know it’s not feasible, but if a lot of males would just use the apps that are know to report to US authorities and input data, that most likely will raise a alarms, they would have to deal with heaps of false-positives and it would obscure the real data.
I just experienced my first period as a 38 year old male. I know almost nothing about them, so this is gonna be a wild ride for anyone who reads my stats.
I’m in. Anyone know of any apps that DO report data?
Same, ready to poison data against fascists anytime.
Wouldn’t that just break the app?
I’m just assuming they use user data to improve the health data shown, if people are going to fill it up with bogus data, it just destroys whatever use this app has for women.
Do you want to be protected or do you want the app optimized pick one
It makes zero sense in keeping the data unencrypted in ang cloud. People usually don’t share their cycles details on the public internet.
DO NOT put this kind of information in an app!
If you absolutely have to have it in your phone, use the calendar and pick some event that’s plausible monthly with a unique name so you can search on it. “Checked for Mxyzlptik updates”, “Look at travel to Canada prices” or whatever.
If you need more functionality than that you’ll need an offline solution. We live in a fascist dictatorship now. They hate women. And they will 100% use that information against you if they can.
I’m glad this article is about Clue. I hope I can continue to trust them.
I’ve been using Clue for years and it’s nicely trans-friendly and not-pink. When I was first looking for a period app, many options were focused on fertility–either seeking or avoiding pregnancy–which rubbed me the wrong way.
Good
