Start using (the right) menstrual cycle tracking app

Why track your period in the first place?

There exist a lot of reasons and different motivations to track your menstrual cycle. You might want to get pregnant and are interested in the days when you are fertile. Maybe you are interested in the exact opposite and want to avoid pregnancy (however purely relying on the previous cycle data may not be the safest method to do so). Some people are having migraines or other potential cycle-dependent symptoms and want to understand the influence of their cycle. Maybe you have an irregular cycle length and want to observe how your cycle changes over time.

Whatever may be the motivation to get to know your cycle better it’s wise to do so. In the past mobile apps have emerged that allow the user to enter the period start and end dates as well as other symptoms of interest in an easy and approachable manner

The sensitivity of period related data

As is true with all health-related data, the data about your menstrual cycle is highly sensitive, because based on the menstrual data and symptoms you log every day one can infer insight about your general health condition e.g:

• Irregular cycles
• Fertility status
• Hormonal imbalances
• Likelihood of having conditions such as Endometriosis, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (POS), Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

This type of information is private and maybe something that individuals only want to share with healthcare providers. This is sensitive not only because it’s deeply personal but also because it could lead to discrimination. For example, some employers or insurers might perceive those trying to conceive as more likely to take parental leave or to have certain medical needs, which could affect hiring or insurance costs. In some jurisdictions, especially where reproductive rights are restricted, menstrual data could potentially be used to identify or prosecute individuals seeking abortions or other reproductive health services.

The risks extend further. Studies show that spending behavior can vary according to one’s menstrual cycle phase, meaning period-tracking data could be used to predict and potentially exploit certain consumer behaviors.

What’s wrong with most of the commercial apps?

With such sensitive data at stake, one would assume that protection and confidentiality of them is one of the primary concerns of commercial menstrual cycle tracking app providers. However, the past has shown us differently. One of the most popular period trackers namely Flo an app with over 100 million users, has shared data of users with Facebook without the consent of the users ¹. This case is well documented ² and went so far that eventually, the Federal Trade Commission of the US ordered that Flo has to inform the affected users about the misconduct ³.

Most of the commercial menstrual cycle tracking apps nowadays have lengthy privacy policies. Studies that looked at the privacy notices of these apps found that 35% of the conducted apps have contradicting statements in their policies regarding whether they were sharing personal data with third parties. On top of that data could be accessed by law enforcement in many cases ⁴.

Pen and paper should not be the only viable solution

As reported by the Guardian ⁵ there’s a movement of women in the US who are deleting their period-tracking apps because of the fear of prosecution in favor of a paper-and-pen approach. This movement has gained influence after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

But is that the only solution to protect your data from data-hungry corporations and authorities?

What if the data you produce stays locally on your device and never leaves your smartphone to an external server in the first place? What if there would be the opportunity to have a look at the actual code of a period tracking app to make sure it not only promises that but actually does it?

Let me introduce you to the world of open-source, non-commercial, and privacy-respecting period trackers.

If the data doesn’t get aggregated in the first place, we also do not need to worry about all potential drawbacks.

That’s the reason why I’ve developed the Android app Bluemoon. Its source code is publicly available on Gitlab and it can be downloaded on the Google Play and F-Droid.

Start regaining the power over your data!

Ps: If you’re on iOS I recommend you use the app drip. Which also committed itself to the same principles. Data is only stored locally and the source code is open source.

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