Ostrzeżenie: *Prywatność dla tego produktu do nabycia osobno
Period Calendar Period Tracker
This app is confusing. Well, maybe the app itself isn't confusing, but trying to work out who makes this app and what their privacy policy is, yeah, that's confusing. Which doesn't bode too well for an app with over 100 million downloads in the Google Play store alone. This app is either made by a company called Simple Design or a company called Abishkking, or perhaps both. The websites are the same stock-photo-filled basic sites with different names. Good luck finding a privacy policy anywhere on either one of them though. To scavenge for the privacy policy you'll have to go the app page on the Google or Apple apps stores. And even then, you end up in different places. There's the privacy policy linked on the Google Play store, and then the Apple App store actually links to two different privacy policies. Like we said, confusing.
Confusion aside, what does this app do? Well, it says it can track and predict your period, ovulation, and fertility window, tell you your chance of getting pregnant every day, and record intimacy, and "and everything about women who try to conceive, pregnant, or birth control." We're not exactly sure what all that everything is, but it sure sounds like it's collecting a whole lot of very personal information. So, how does it look from a privacy perspective? Well, again, we'd say, kinda confusing and probably not too good.
Co się może stać, jeśli coś pójdzie nie tak?
We ding this app for a number of reasons. First, they do collect a whole lot of very personal information. And although they say they won't share the personal information you track in the app, they do say they can share personal information about your visits to the app with third parties for marketing and interest-based advertising. That's not great. Advertisers might not know when your period is or how long, but they can tell you're using this period tracking app and your location and more. You probably don't want that.
We also ding this app because while they say they don't sell your personal information, they clearly state in their privacy policy that some of the service providers they partner with might sell it. "We do not sell personal information. However, the Service Providers we partner with (for example, our advertising partners) may use technology on the Service that "sells" personal information as defined by the CCPA law." In fact, In May, 2022 a reporter for Motherboard found data for sale on a data broker site including data related to this app. That's not good at all.
This app earns a third privacy ding from us because we could find no clear rights for all users to access and delete their data. We strongly feel, especially with apps that track period and pregnancy information, that all users should be able to easily access and delete all their data at any time. This is quite important in the post-Roe vs Wade world the US lives in now.
What else worries us about this app? Well, users should know that by registering to use the app or creating a profile, you have given this company consent to use your data for all manner of things, including sharing with third parties for targeted advertising and sharing with service providers who might be able to sell you information.
Oh, and how does the company say they handle law enforcement requests for your data? Well, that's addressed in their privacy policy with the rather vague line, "Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency)." For a company that appears to be quite small, and we're even confused about which company actually makes this app, we don't get the sense they would be able to fight back against law enforcement requests for personal data on their users. Which, again, in the post-Roe vs Wade world in the US, is another concern for us.
What's the worst that could happen? Oh man, the potential scenarios feel scary. It does seem possible that a women could download and use the app. Have her very personal, private period history tracked. Some third party service provider could gather some bits of this information that could then be sold and end up in the hands of data brokers. Someone else could purchase that data and learn about a device ID, location, and other information about that user. Potentially combine that data with other data the includes device ID and location and learn the woman's identity. And from there, it could only get worse. This is a scenario, we don't know if it could happen. But we think potential users of this app should be aware that it's not outside the realm of possibility.
Wskazówki, jak się chronić
- If you are California resident, opt out of selling of your data. If you are not from California, better find another app.
- Do not give access to your contacts, files and media
- Do not give consent for the app to access data about your health and activities from third-party services such as Apple HealthKit and Google Fit.
- Better do not sign in to the app (as login is available via Google account only). If you have already logged in, you can remove access in your Google Account.
- Chose a strong password! You may use a password control tool like 1Password, KeePass etc
- Use your device privacy controls to limit access to your personal information via app (do not give access to your camera, microphone, images and videos)
- Keep your app regularly updated
- Limit ad tracking via your device (eg on iPhone go to Privacy -> Advertising -> Limit ad tracking) and biggest ad networks (for Google, go to Google account and turn off ad personalization)
- Request your data be deleted once you stop using the app. Simply deleting an app from your device does not erase your personal data.
Czy może mnie podsłuchiwać?
Aparat
Urządzenie: Nie dotyczy
Aplikacja: Nie
Mikrofon
Urządzenie: Nie dotyczy
Aplikacja: Nie
Śledzi położenie
Urządzenie: Nie dotyczy
Aplikacja: Tak
Czego można użyć do rejestracji?
Nie
Telefon
Nie
Konto firmy trzeciej
Tak
Google account sign-in possible
Jakie dane zbiera ta firma?
Osobiste
Real-time location, Email address, First name and last name, Phone number, Gender, Password or passcode, Usage Data
Związane z ciałem
Weight, Height, Body temperature, Menstrual cycle, Symptoms; Other information about your health (including sexual activities), and related activities.
Społecznościowe
Contacts, if you allow via your phone settings
Jak ta firma wykorzystuje te dane?
Jak możesz kontrolować swoje dane?
Jaka jest znana historia tej firmy w zakresie ochrony danych użytkowników?
No known privacy or security incidents discovered in the last 3 years.
Informacje o prywatności dziecka
Czy ten produkt może być używany bez połączenia z siecią?
Przyjazne dla użytkownika informacje o prywatności?
Odnośniki do informacji o prywatności
Czy ten produkt spełnia nasze minimalne standardy bezpieczeństwa?
Szyfrowanie
Silne hasło
Aktualizacje zabezpieczeń
Zajmuje się problemami z bezpieczeństwem
Zasady ochrony prywatności
Dowiedz się więcej
-
Data Marketplace Selling Info About Who Uses Period Tracking AppsVice
-
The data flows: How private are popular period tracker apps?Surfshark
-
Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade: Should you delete your period-tracking app?TechCrunch
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