Group files complaint over app FLO collecting sexual activity, pregnancy intentions info
A Dutch civil rights group has filed a complaint against a widely used menstruation-tracking app over alleged misuse of sensitive health data, while an Amsterdam entrepreneur has launched a rival app built to avoid data sales and targeted advertising, RTL reports.
Bits of Freedom said it has lodged a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority against the app Flo, which it says processes highly sensitive health information and enables targeted advertising based on intimate user data. The app is used by more than 200,000 women in the Netherlands.
According to Bits of Freedom, menstruation apps collect and potentially sell sensitive personal health information, including menstrual cycles, headaches, cramps, sexual activity, and pregnancy intentions, such as whether users are trying to conceive or prevent pregnancy.
Director Evelyn Austin said the apps “commercialize intimate health data.” She added: “The more advertisers know about you, the more detailed your profile becomes and the better they can predict your behavior. That allows them to serve you highly targeted advertisements, from which large amounts of money are made.”
A consumer investigation by the Dutch TV program Radar in March found privacy concerns in multiple cycle-tracking apps, including Flo and Clue, both of which performed poorly in the assessment.
Flo, which says it is used by millions of women in 22 countries, was founded in Belarus in 2015. In response to Radar, the company disputed claims that consent for data sharing is unclear or that users do not understand what they agree to.
“The trust, protection, privacy rights and freedoms of our users are of the utmost importance to Flo, and we aim to be as cooperative and helpful as possible,” the company said.
In Amsterdam, Lisa Volkers, 29, told NH that the controversy over data practices in menstruation apps prompted her to build her own alternative called Period, designed to avoid selling user data. "Women, would you tell everyone when you last had sex or whether you think you are pregnant? Probably not, right, yet that is what millions of women do when they use a menstruation app,” Volkers said.
After learning how some apps handle personal information, she said, "That is bizarre, that cannot be. It is about your own body, but for many women, it is also about pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and abortion. I do not think it is acceptable that such data is shared with parties that profit from it.”
Volkers said many existing apps also reinforce stereotypes in their design. “Those apps are often very girly and pink. Does it have to be that way because we are women?” she said. “That does not appeal to me at all.”
She developed Period together with her partner and tested early versions with a group of women who provided feedback on how different users experience their cycles. “We will never sell women’s data,” Volkers said. “That is so important to me, because that is exactly the frustration that made me start this app.”
