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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[–] kingorgg@feddit.uk 7 points 15 hours 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

[–] moon@lemmy.cafe 34 points 1 day 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.

[–] Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 59 points 1 day ago (2 children)

That will last only until a judge signs a warrant.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day 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@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[–] daggermoon@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[–] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 9 points 1 day ago

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

[–] zephorah@lemm.ee 10 points 1 day 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.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day 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@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day 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.

[–] CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day 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@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

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

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 4 points 22 hours ago
[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 81 points 1 day 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.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 27 points 1 day 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@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Drip is a horrible name for a period tracking app lol

[–] CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean at that point just call it Bleed lol

[–] semperverus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

What an insightful comment, the_crotch

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day 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

[–] semperverus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago
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[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 50 points 1 day 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@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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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[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago
[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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

[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 day 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?

[–] el_abuelo@programming.dev 20 points 1 day 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.

[–] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 day 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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[–] ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world 327 points 2 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:

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 122 points 2 days ago (8 children)

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

[–] ganymede@lemmy.ml 73 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

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

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[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 7 points 1 day ago
[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 147 points 2 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.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 84 points 2 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.

[–] murtaza64@programming.dev 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

source on the 28 notch stick?

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 2 points 5 hours 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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[–] kureta@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

menstrual surveillance

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

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[–] irotsoma@lemmy.world 63 points 2 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@lemmy.world 45 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 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!

[–] reseller_pledge609@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] el_abuelo@programming.dev 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Haha that is some app name!

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[–] timewarp@lemmy.world 67 points 2 days ago (17 children)

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

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