San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Post-Roe, women deleting apps
Some fear period tracker could be used in an abortion lawsuit or investigation
When Lauren Price read the leaked draft of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, she emailed her period-tracking app’s customer support team to ask how they were protecting her personal health information.
The Houston resident, 37, is an activist and data specialist for a school district, so she worried that law enforcement or others might seek out data while investigating whether someone had an illegal abortion. The prospect is of particular concern in Texas, where a state law allows private citizens to collect a $10,000 bounty in lawsuits against anyone who aids or abets the procedure.
When Price never heard back from that company — Kindara — she decided to stop using the app.
“I would love to be wrong, but I don’t trust enough people to do the right thing and not leave my data out there for anybody to find,” she said.
“Delete your period tracker” has become a common refrain on social media in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case establishing a constitutional right to an abortion. Fifteen states, including Texas, have already taken steps to ban or severely restrict abortions, with several others expected to do the same. Some are concerned that in those states, data from periodtracking apps could be used as proof of a missed period.
Legal and data privacy experts said that while period-tracking apps are attracting the most attention, other aspects of someone’s digital footprint are more likely to be at risk. Location data, text messages and internet history could be sought as part an investigation into a prohibited abortion. But they hope the focus on period-tracking apps will spur people to think more critically about the information they’re sharing online and the steps they’re taking to protect their data.
“I think this moment is a wake-up call for users who are realizing just how much of their sensitive information is captured through their daily online activities,” said Alexandra Givens, the president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit focused on digital privacy.
Companies and apps often disclose their privacy protections in hard-to-find and difficult-to-read policies or terms of service, said Cooper Quintin, a senior staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The average user may not know their personal information is being shared with advertisers or data brokers, which collect it and sell it for profit.
It may seem like information shared with period-tracking apps should be protected, but tech companies are not subject to the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. That
only applies to health care providers, insurance companies and their business associates.
Some period-tracking apps are trying to appeal to users by advertising how they’re taking additional steps to protect user data. Flo, for example, has announced it will be rolling out an “anonymous mode” where users can remove their name, email address and other identifiers from their profile.
Houston resident Abbie Martinez, 24, began using a tracking app in high school because she had irregular periods. She was using Apple’s Health app when the Supreme Court ruling was released and decided to switch to a paper calendar to track her cycle.
For Martinez, the issue is personal. Several years ago, her period-tracking app alerted her she’d missed her period, and she discovered she was pregnant. She was still considering her options when she had a miscarriage.
Martinez is thankful her period tracker helped her realize she was pregnant so she could consider her options. She’s upset others may not be able to do the same if they’re too scared to use an app.
“This is personal to me. I don’t see how my menstruation cycle — if I’m late two days, or if I’m early two days — is anyone else’s business but my own,” she said.
Could data be at risk?
Data from period-tracking apps could theoretically be used to reverse-engineer when someone might have been pregnant, said Jennifer
Laurin, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. In a state like Texas, it’s a “fair guess” it could be sought as part of an investigation into a prohibited abortion, she said.
“Just from an evidentiary standpoint, I can see how the information would be valuable,” she said.
Other types of data could be more valuable, though. Text messages, emails and internet search histories have all been used in criminal cases against women accused of self-inducing an abortion, according to a 2020 study by civil rights lawyer Cynthia Conti-Cook.
Givens is particularly concerned by what might play out in Texas.
“I am very worried about what that does to incentivize a culture of bounty hunters who can profit at $10,000 a case from seeking out information about women who they suspect might have had an abortion,” she said.
Givens said her organization is imploring tech companies to take every step possible to protect user data. Companies should demand a warrant for the information instead of providing it to any prosecutor who requests it by email. Private citizens cannot obtain a warrant to force a company to hand over information.
Experts have found that in the past, most criminal cases related to prohibited or self-induced abortions have started with information provided by a health care professional. That would suggest that data from period-tracking apps will not be the someone’s biggest source of vulnerability, said Leah Fowler, a professor and research director at the University
of Houston’s Health Law and Policy Institute.
At the same time, it’s difficult to gauge what will happen as more abortion laws take effect.
“I think we are entering into a period of time where what has happened in the past may not always be the greatest indication of what is going to happen in the future,” she said.
Protecting your data
Many app users may think their data can simply be deleted by removing the app from their phone, but that’s not the case. If the data is stored on a company server, the company’s privacy policy or terms of service might spell out how long it will be maintained. The data could also be shared with third parties or obtained through a subpoena, Quintin said.
When a company or app asks you to provide your personal information, you should ask yourself if they truly need it, Quintin said.
“It is absolutely true that your data is only as safe as the company chooses to make it,” Quintin said. “In a lot of cases, companies are driven more by a profit motive than a motive to keep their customers’ data safe.”
There are steps you can take to keep your personal information and communications safe, experts said. Turn off location sharing on all your apps and use an encrypted messaging service, such as Signal, for any sensitive communications. You should also use a virtual private network, or VPN, which is designed to enhance security by giving you a different IP address to shield your location.
While Fowler is concerned by what might play out in a state like Texas, she does not believe users need to start deleting their period trackers.
“I think everything has to be a cost-benefit analysis, because at the end of the day, it’s not a workable solution to say that more than 50 percent of the population should have to opt out of the digital economy and live off the grid,” Fowler said. “That’s not a real policy answer.”
Price decided to switch to a different period-tracking app rather than stop using one altogether. She switched to Euki, which stores data on the user’s phone and does not use third-party tracking. She also takes other precautions to protect her personal information; she uses a password-managing app, a VPN and encrypted messaging.
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, Price said she’s heard “a lot of panic” from friends who use period-tracking apps. She’s disgusted by the possibility that someone’s personal health information could be obtained by law enforcement or even private citizens.
“Unless I’m married to you or you’re my doctor, when I get my period is none of your damn business,” Price said.