People Are (Rightly) Concerned About Data Privacy for Women's Health Apps

pcmag.com:

Apps are a pathway to getting things done. But they’re also a conduit to your most personal information. 

Secure Data Recovery conducted a survey of 918 people and combined it with a data-collection report from Surfshark to assess the attitudes of Americans on data tracking(Opens in a new window). It found that of major app categories, people trusted women’s health apps the least. 

In that category, survey respondents were most alarmed about period- and pregnancy-tracking apps—particularly Ovia, The Bump, What to Expect, Flo, and Clue. Each of these apps appeared in the top-10 least-trusted list. 

In its report, Secure Data Recovery said that the level of concern about all the apps except Clue was “much higher than warranted” because they did not capture much data. This statement completely ignores the types of data such apps capture and the recent drastic reduction in the reproductive and health rights of women in the United States. 

Even very basic, supposedly anonymized data can easily be used to identify and track individuals(Opens in a new window). Women’s health apps that collect sensitive, reproductive-focused information can be used to prosecute and punish women who seek abortion-related healthcare. The skepticism and fears those surveyed have about such apps is warranted—and is actually encouraging to see. 

A majority of those who answered the survey (61%) said they have deleted at least one app because of a data-collection and/or privacy concern. The practice of trying to maintain app privacy is exhausting, though, and 45% said they have stopped trying. 

There is a split among Android and iOS users: 58% who use Android devices describe themselves as “very conscientious” about app use, compared with 44% of iOS