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In the most extensive evaluation of the privacy practices of female health apps to date, researchers found apps which handle medical and fertility data are coercing users into entering sensitive information that could put them at risk
Apps designed for female health monitoring are exposing users to unnecessary privacy and safety risks through their poor data handling practices, according to new research from King's College London and University College London (UCL).
Only one app that the researchers reviewed explicitly addressed the sensitivity of menstrual data with regard to law enforcement in their privacy policies and made efforts to safeguard users against legal threats. Female health apps collect sensitive data about users' menstrual cycle, sex lives, and pregnancy status, as well as personally identifiable information such as names and email addresses. The study, which looked at well-known apps including Flo and Clue, revealed stark contradictions between privacy policy wording and in-app features, as well as flawed user consent mechanisms, and covert gathering of sensitive data with rife third-party sharing.
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