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We have finally managed to talk about a topic that we think is very important: today's article will in fact be an article on applications for monitoring the menstrual cycle, an article that we have been trying to do for a long time and that only today, thanks to the help and collaboration of Baylee (thank you!) we can take you.
Many things have also changed during the writing of this article: for example, not long ago there was the abolition of the sentence Roe v. Wade in the United States, news that has raised several alarm bells here in Italy too and also to those who have always been careless about their privacy.
For those interested, we recommend this podcast from Il Disinformatico on the topic with some updates: RSI Podcast – Menstrual Tracking App, Risk of Government Persecution.
Applications for monitoring the menstrual cycle: a risk for privacy
In fact, in the United States there has been a lot of talk about the fact that applications for monitoring the menstrual cycle could become a real problem: thanks to the data they collect they can, inevitably, know that a person is pregnant 1 and sharing this data with third parties may be a risk to your freedom 2.
Some applications, in the meantime, have tried to take action by starting to adopt the End-to-end encryption 3. But it is still too little: the application in question, for example, is not Open source and its encryption is unverifiable. And so it could just be marketing.
Privacy Not Included
Before starting with the reviews of alternative applications it is important to explain the main reason why we consider this article necessary even if you do not live in the United States: the personal data you share with your period app is used by advertising companies to track the people who use them.
According to report from the «Privacy Not Included» study of the Mozilla Foundation Most of these applications collect large amounts of personal data which they then share widely with third parties. Out of a total of 20 applications analyzed in the Mozilla study, only 7 of them passed the exam and were found to be equipped with sufficient privacy protection and user data protection measures. In 8 out of 20 apps, minimum data security standards were not found 4.
Menstrual cycle tracking applications: why look for ethical alternatives?
It is therefore an absolutely not to be underestimated topic which is always talked about too little and for which we leave you several in-depth links that we strongly recommend you read to get a more complete idea of the problem:
- How Facebook uses your menstrual cycle data to sell you products (Piped links). A video (in English) explains in a simple but detailed way the personal data market for applications for menstrual cycle monitoring.
- Your app knows you're on your period. Guess who said that? (Archive link). An important article by New York Times regarding this very topic.
- No Body's Business But Mine: How Period Apps Share Your Data (Privacy International) (Archive link);
- Period apps are a privacy nightmare: should you continue using them? An expert explains the risks (BusinessInsider) (Archive link);
- last but not least, What your period tracking app knows about you (Archive link), an article by Donna Rosato for Consumer Reports.
Unfortunately they are all sources in English, which you can translate with one of many alternatives to Google Translate if you don't know the language. Unfortunately we did not find many insights in Italian, as mentioned, in fact, it is unfortunately a topic snubbed by most. We point out some of them:
Some insights in Italian
- Abortion in the USA, we take action with apps to monitor the cycle (Archive link): many are advising to immediately uninstall the apps that monitor the cycle, some of these are starting to implement the End-to-end encryption
- Period tracking apps share data with Facebook (Archive link): some menstrual cycle tracking apps have shared users' personal information with Facebook. The information would be used for targeting advertisements.
- Your phone knows you're pregnant (Archive link): In the future, when abortion is illegal in many areas of the United States, data collected by tech companies could be used to monitor women
It is therefore in our opinion absolutely necessary that people who use commercial applications are aware of these practices and these risks.
Here is a list of the applications we found and that Baylee tested and reviewed. All these applications are Open source and without any tracer or advertising:
Applications for monitoring the menstrual cycle: the alternatives
None of the three apps are full of roses, flowers, hearts and all those cute graphics that usually infest period tracking apps because period = woman = pink, but not all people who have periods are women and not all women love menstruation. rose, little hearts and little flowers.
All apps need at least 4-5 cycles entered in order to have enough data to be accurate.
None of the three have “pregnancy mode”.
drip.
Open source
alert for the flow approach
alert to remember to take your basal temperature
statistics
it can be protected with a password
no alert for contraception
It is my favourite.
Positive sides: it tracks flow intensity, pain, mood, sexual activity and desire, basal temperature and gives you the ability to add any other information you need to record. It has the possibility of setting an alert for the flow approaching (3 days before), very useful so you can check if you have everything you need and/or start preparations to be ready3.
You can also set an alert to remind you to take your basal temperature. You can protect the app with a password if you're worried about another person accessing your phone, and you can see a screen with basic cycle statistics and a table that shows at a glance the days with the various phases of the flow , cervical mucus, pain and mood.
Downsides: the application is only in English. Love NFP (Noatural Family Planning) which is not reliable as a contraceptive method (and I don't seem to have read any warnings to this effect in the information available on the app), but it is useful if you are trying to have a baby or simply get to know your body better. However, you can choose not to keep track of this type of information, excluding it from the screen that collects cycle data.
There is no warning regarding contraception (for example, remember to take the pill).
log28
Open source
shows how many days until the next flow
track appetite, physical activity, mood and sexual activity
summary table
no alert for contraception or for the approaching period
Positive sides: as soon as it is opened it shows you how many days remain until the next flow. You can also track your appetite and physical activity, as well as physical symptoms, mood and sexual activity. You can add your own notes and also exclude any symptoms you don't care to keep track of. It summarizes data in a table that shows you the start of the flow, the duration of the flow and the duration of the cycle.
Downsides: the application is only in English. There is no possibility of indicating the intensity of the flow, so even on the calendar it will always be marked with the same red color. There is no option to password protect the app. There is no possibility to set an alert for the approaching period and there is no alert regarding contraception (for example, remembering to take the pill) or a way to keep track of the methods used other than using the notes .
Periodical
Open source
calendar that colors the days of the flow differently
no alert for contraception or for the approaching period
Positive sides: has a calendar that colors the flow days differently (red), those estimated fertile (blue) and those estimated infertile (yellow). The estimated day of ovulation is marked with a circle at the bottom left, while on flow days the dots at the top indicate its intensity. By clicking on each individual day you can add the various symptoms. In the calendar it is also possible to indicate the number of the day of the cycle. It is possible to access two lists: in one there is only the start date of the flow and the duration of the cycle, while in the other there are also all the symptoms recorded day by day.
Downsides: although also available in Italian, the translation leaves much to be desired. It groups very different symptoms together in a single section and I found it a bit confusing. The only named contraceptive method is the pill and there is a terrible warning that warns that the app should not be used to avoid pregnancy and recommends more effective methods, such as measuring basal temperature, which however is not an effective contraceptive method.
There is no option to password protect the app. There is no possibility to set an alert for the approaching period and there is no alert regarding contraception (for example, remembering to take the pill).
Extra
- Euki, this application is recommended by Mozilla and does not contain any tracer and requires Alone internet as authorization. However, an internet connection does not appear to be mandatory, so if you have an operating system that allows you to disconnect it or if used NetGuard you can probably do it without any problems. Available on Play Store And App Store, Not And Open source. We have not yet found anyone who has tested this application so if you have tried it and want to write a few lines to explain how it works we will gladly add them.
- Your phone knows you're pregnant[↩]
- Abortion in the USA, we take action with apps to monitor the cycle[↩]
- Stardust claims to be first period Trackers app to offer end-to-end encryption[↩]
- Privacy "not included" in menstrual cycle tracking apps[↩]
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