this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2024
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The team behind menstrual health and period tracking app Clue has said it will not disclose users' data to American authorities, following Donald Trump's reelection.

The message comes in response to concerns that during Trump's second presidency, abortion bans that followed the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 will worsen and states will attempt to increase menstrual surveillance in order to further restrict access to terminations.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 days ago

Cool but the proper solution is that they shouldn't have access to this data at all. It should be either stored locally, or encrypted on their servers. Companies not being able to access their consumer data should be the default.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

My wife uses a spreadsheet and connected it to her calendar. Seems pretty accurate.

It is a modified version of this:

http://www.alizaaufrichtig.com/period-tracker

[–] Paranoidfactoid 60 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That will last only until a judge signs a warrant.

[–] ameancow 22 points 2 days ago

Or until the American people get bored with talking about it, like with everything else, then stop caring and just let whatever happen.

[–] FlyingSquid 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Or until Trump decides to have an army of hackers like Putin.

[–] daggermoon 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

We already do. We wage cyber warfare with other countries the same.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

Were people unclear on this? They think that the US is just letting cyber warfare happen without participating...?

[–] [email protected] 81 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Don't fall for it. Read their privacy policy.

They keep your data in the cloud and share it with third parties, including advertisers.

Pen and paper doesn't snitch.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 days ago

not defending the bogus use of the cloud to host sensitive data, nor do i unquestioningly believe this? but correcting the record since you did 80% of the work in finding the link:

Be assured that the sensitive health data you track in the Clue app is never shared with or sold to advertisers, or any partners whose services we may recommend in Clue.

If you actually read what you sent it seems like the only data that is shared to advertisers is standard marketing stuff like IP, device ID, age group, and location. Still bad and I stand with others recommending locally hosted FOSS alternatives.

[–] Twinklebreeze 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There are also foss alternatives. Install fdroid and get drip.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Drip is a horrible name for a period tracking app lol

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I mean at that point just call it Bleed lol

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[–] semperverus 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

What an insightful comment, the_crotch

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It actually inspired me to start writing my own competing period tracking app, Margaret Plug That Up Already You're Ruining The Carpet

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why the hell period data needs to be stored on the cloud?

How much could it weight? A few Kb? Local storage!

I would never trust such data leaving my device when is no need for it whatsoever.

Aren't there any open source period tracking apps? I'll do one, it can't be that hard. An sqlite database patched to a frontend calendar and some basic predictions based on normal scenarios.

[–] Emerald 18 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Aren’t there any open source period tracking apps?

Many. On F-Droid.

drip. menstrual cycle and fertility tracking (Open-source, non-commercial and leaves your data on your phone.) https://f-droid.org/packages/com.drip/

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[–] ForgottenFlux 327 points 3 days ago (9 children)

Research conducted by the Mozilla Foundation indicates that the app referred to in the article, Clue, gathers extensive information and shares certain data with third parties for advertising, marketing, and research reasons.

Here are some menstruation tracking apps that are open-source and prioritize user privacy by keeping your data stored locally on your device:

[–] [email protected] 123 points 3 days ago (9 children)

So the government just needs to acquire this data from one of those third parties if it wants it.

[–] [email protected] 73 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

so what they're really saying is they won't give it away for free

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

They do claim to not share any medical data with third parties though. See other comments for source.

I wouldn't trust them either way...

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[–] Treczoks 16 points 2 days ago

First I thought "WTF is period data a thing that should concern the government", but then I noticed we are talking about the future Handmaids Tale country here.

[–] PagingDoctorLove 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Still not worth the risk to download it. Get a paper journal, they make ones that guide you through tracking all the necessary data.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Paper without some sort of code to hide what's happening isn't much better, considering if something ever happens you could get searched.

[–] PagingDoctorLove 3 points 2 days ago

Sure I guess but you can also just leave it at home.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

Newsweek has really trash headlines. No one’s asking, yet, so that’s a terrible headline.

(Yes I voted Kamala, and yes I did it for medical autonomy reasons as well as orange potato reasons, Vance reasons, heritage foundation reasons, and Project 2025.)

It’s still a trash headline and pretty standard fare for Newsweek. Why is it trash? Because it’s classic The Boy Who Cried Wolf. When I read this headline, I need it to be real.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why do they need to save the tracked period data to a server farm? Why can't it just be saved on the phone, huh?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Probably because they want to be able to maintain users during device switches. Given much of the world is on an annual or bi-annual cycle it'd suck to lose your users each time.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They could just do the password manager approach where the data is encrypted on your phone but stored in the cloud. App retains users, sensitive data remains private.

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[–] TipRing 147 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They say that, but when Ken Paxton subpoenas them they will say they have no choice. It would be better to use an app that doesn't store this data server side at all.

[–] [email protected] 84 points 3 days ago (14 children)

FOSS Period Tracking Apps Exist: (there may be others, as well)

https://fossdroid.com/a/bluemoon.html

https://fossdroid.com/a/mensinator.html

https://github.com/TotallyMonica/foss-period-tracker

Also paper and pencil.

Also the oldest known "writing" is a stick with 28 notches on it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

source on the 28 notch stick?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

It was some time ago that I read of that, so the details are fuzzy. And here's what I found:

https://nypost.com/2019/07/25/10000-year-old-engraved-stone-could-be-worlds-oldest-lunar-calendar/

“A 10,000-year-old engraved stone could be a lunar calendar. The rare pebble — found high up in the mountains near Rome, Italy, the hammer-stone was found on top of Monte Alta in the Alban Hills. It’s believed that our early ancestors would’ve used the stone to keep track of the moon’s cycles. Notches were engraved “as if they were being used to count, calculate or store the record of some kind of information. And these notches — which total either 27 or 28 — suggest the stone’s engraver used the pebble to track lunar cycles.” ref

It could also have been The Ishango Bone (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-ishango-bone-the-worlds-oldest-period-tracker/)

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[–] irotsoma 63 points 3 days ago

Yeah they may not cooperate with authorities, but I'm sure they'd be happy to sell it to contractors working on behalf of the government to the same ends. They already sell the info as it is.

[–] taxon 46 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

If you want an app that stores nothing on the cloud, check it out here on Android and here on IOS. My SO loves it!

[–] [email protected] 34 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Haha that is some app name!

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[–] aesthelete 6 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 days ago (1 children)

menstrual surveillance

Now that's a phrase I would've never thought I would read.

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[–] timewarp 67 points 3 days ago (8 children)

Period tracking apps should store no data at all in the cloud.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 3 days ago (9 children)

Some people want convenience of accessing the data between devices.

It's okay to store stuff in the cloud just make it's encrypted deeply and thoroughly and that the user is the only person with the key.

There's absolutely no reason for them to have access to this data.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago
[–] aceshigh 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Shit which reminds me. Now I have to stop using the app… and delete it.

[–] FlashMobOfOne 33 points 3 days ago

I wouldn't trust it. We now live in an era where, if you want control of any kind of information, you simply can't share it digitally in any way.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Can’t those app offer this feature : replace all the original data by pseudo random data shifting the menstruation cycle in a way that would benefit the user at that moment ? Or : shift all data to x days (easier to undo)

It’s crazy that we live in a world where we have to think about such things…

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