![]() “The data can be sold to third parties, such as big tech companies or to insurance companies, where it could then be used to make targeting decisions, such as whether to sell you a life insurance policy, or how much your premium should be,” said Giulia De Togni, a health and artificial intelligence researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.įlo Health, headquartered in London, settled with the Federal Trade Commission last year over allegations that the company, after promises of privacy, shared health data of users using its fertility-tracking app with outside data analytics companies, including Facebook and Google. ![]() Some period-tracking apps, which often ask for health information besides menstrual cycle details, take part in the broader internet data economy, too. When it comes to marketing, a pregnant person’s data is particularly of high value and can be hard to hide from the barrage of cookies and bots. If the app is free - and the company is monetizing the data - then “you are the product” and HIPAA does not apply, Savage said.Ī 2019 study published in the BMJ found that 79% of health apps available through the Google Play store regularly shared user data and were “far from transparent.” Still, HIPAA doesn’t prevent the company from sharing de-identified data. Period-tracking apps are often not covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, though if the company is billing for health care services, it can be. Subscribe to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. “If you can’t find terms of service or a privacy policy, don’t use that app.” “Does it encrypt? What’s its business model?” said Lucia Savage, chief privacy and regulatory officer for Omada Health, a digital therapeutics company. Privacy policies - specifically, whether the apps sell information to data brokers, use the data for advertising, share it for research, or keep it solely within the app - vary substantially among companies. That got us wondering - are these concerns warranted, and should people who use period-tracking apps delete the data or the app completely from their phones? We asked the experts. Similarly, Eva Galperin, a cybersecurity expert, said the data could “be used to prosecute you if you ever choose to have an abortion.” “If you are using an online period tracker or tracking your cycles through your phone, get off it and delete your data,” activist and attorney Elizabeth McLaughlin said in a viral tweet. Many users recommended immediately deleting all personal data from period-tracking apps. They were expressing concerns about the privacy of this information - especially for people who live in states with strict limits on abortion - and how it might be used against them. Wade, the landmark decision that guarantees the constitutional right to an abortion, would be overturned, people turned to social media. ![]() It can be republished for free.Īfter Politico published on May 2 a draft opinion from the Supreme Court indicating that Roe v. ![]()
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