Period and pregnancy tracking apps have bad privacy protections, report finds

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

A new analysis shows that the majority of period and pregnancy tracking apps don't have strong privacy protections. Privacy policies in health apps are always a problem, but issues that fall into this particular category are especially concerning now that abortion is illegal in many places in the US

Data collected by period and pregnancy tracking apps could potentially be used to prosecute people who get abortions in places that are not legal. Data from period tracking apps isn't the biggest thing used to tie people to abortions right now. They are still potentially risky.

The privacy and security of personal and sensitive health information should be a top priority for companies in the US.

Some of the most popular apps and devices have period and pregnancy tracking features. The report found that most people didn't say if or when they'd share information with law enforcement. The Clue Period & Cycle Tracker and Eve are two of the top cycle tracking app recommendations in the Apple App store. The label says that Mozilla has concerns about the privacy policies of the apps.

The five devices included in the analysis did not have warnings on them. Period tracking features are included in the Apple Watch and Oura Ring.

In May of this year, Mozilla released a report about mental health apps and found that they did a poor job of protecting user privacy. The full guide can be found here.