Are you using an app on your smartphone to keep tracks on your
periods?
Well, it’s worrying, because it might be sharing your extremely
sensitive information like menstrual cycle and sexual activities
with Facebook.
A new investigative report from UK-based advocacy group Privacy
International revealed how some most popular period tracker apps
used by millions of women share their most private health
information—including monthly period cycles, contraception use,
sexual life, symptoms, like swelling and cramps, and more—directly
with Facebook.
These period-tracking apps, listed below, transfer your data to
Facebook the moment you open them, regardless of the fact that you
have a Facebook account or not, and whether you are logged into the
social network platform or not.
Period-tracking apps are used by women to keep tracks on their
monthly period cycles, but mostly they are being used by those who
want to conceive, as such apps can help them monitor ovulation days
when there are more chances of conceiving a child.
For accuracy in calculating the day of the month you’re most
fertile or the date of your next period, these apps ask you to log
some of your most sensitive information into the app, like when you
have sex, dates of your periods, physical and emotional symptoms
and more—the information you would otherwise not prefer to share
with anyone.
These Period Tracking Apps Share Your Data With Facebook
However, Privacy International found that some of the most popular
period-tracking apps with millions of downloads on Google Play
Store, listed below, share this information directly with Facebook
or other third-party services.
development kit (SDK) integrated into the app to help app
developers, among other functions, earn revenue by collecting user
data so Facebook can show them targeted advertisements.
- Maya—owned by India-based Plackal Tech and has over 5
million downloads - MIA Fem: Ovulation Calculator—by Cyprus-based Mobapp
Development Limited and has over 1 million downloads - My Period Tracker—owned by Linchpin Health and has over
1 million downloads - Ovulation Calculator—owned by PinkBird and has over half
a million downloads - Mi Calendario—by Grupo Familia and has more than 1
million downloads
“The wide reach of the apps that our research has looked at might
mean that intimate details of the private lives of millions of
users across the world are shared with Facebook and other third
parties without those users’ free unambiguous and informed or
explicit consent, in the case of sensitive personal data, such as
data relating to a user’s health or sex life,” the report
reads[1].
Besides sharing users’ data with third-party services, some
period-tracking apps even ask them if they want to anonymize this
data or not, as the report says: “If you have unprotected sex, MIA
will tell you what to do. And share it with Facebook and
others.”
“Confidentiality is at the heart of medical ethics and countries
that have data protection laws traditionally have a separate regime
for health data, which includes health data, which are considered
sensitive data,” the researchers said.
“Our research highlights that the apps we have exposed raise
serious concerns when it comes to their compliance with their GDPR
obligations, especially around consent and transparency.”
Facebook and Affected Apps Responded
When contacted, one of the app, called Maya, told PI that the app
had “removed both the Facebook core SDK and Analytics SDK from
Maya” and released a new version of its app, Version 3.6.7.7, on
the Google Play Store that reflect these changes.
Maya also said the app would continue to use the Facebook Ad SDK
for users who had agreed to its terms and conditions and privacy
policy, but added that it does not “share any personally
identifiable data or medical data with the Facebook Ad SDK.”
had integrated Facebook advertising SDK to maintain the development
of PinkBird team, but said it would “investigate whether the
advertising platform collects users’ private data or not, and if it
collects, we will remove it immediately.”
In response to the report, Facebook said its Terms require every
app developer to be clear with their users about what information
they are gathering and sharing with the social network and have a
“lawful basis” for collecting this data.
Facebook also added that it prohibits app developers from
sharing customer data that “includes health, financial information,
or other categories of sensitive information (including any
information defined as sensitive under applicable law).”
The social media giant also said it had got in touch with the
period-tracking apps in question about potential violations of
Facebook’s terms of service.
References
- ^
report reads
(www.privacyinternational.org)
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