Why Your Period App is Probably Spying on You (And What to Do About It)

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🥱 TLDR

Your "free" period app is making bank by selling your most intimate health data to advertisers, insurance companies, and data brokers. Apps like Flo and Glow have been caught red-handed sharing fertility info with Facebook and analytics companies. Post-Roe, this data can literally be used as evidence against you. You need apps that store data locally on your device only. No cloud, no sharing, no BS.

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That "cute" little period app on your phone is probably selling your most intimate health data to anyone willing to pay. While you're tracking cramps and flow, they're tracking you and making serious money off your biology.

I'm not trying to scare you. I'm trying to wake you up. Because right now, over 200 million women worldwide are using period tracking apps, and 76% of those apps share user data with third parties.

That means your cycle, your sex life, your fertility struggles, and your pregnancy scares are all for sale.

What they're Really Tracking (Spoiler: It's Not Just Your Period)

Think your period app only knows when you bleed? Think again. These apps are data vacuums, sucking up everything they can about your life:

Your location data shows where you are during different cycle phases. Visiting a pharmacy during PMS? Noted. Doctor's office when you're late? Recorded.

Sexual activity patterns including frequency, timing, and contraception use. They know more about your sex life than your diary does.

Mood and symptom tracking creates detailed mental health profiles. Feeling anxious? Depressed? Horny? It's all catalogued and categorized.

Shopping behavior reveals what you buy when hormonal. Chocolate cravings, comfort purchases, impulse buys. They track it all.

Sleep and exercise patterns complete your lifestyle profile. They know when you're tired, when you work out, when you're stressed.

The result is a complete picture of you that's worth hundreds of dollars to the right buyer.

The Hall of Shame: Apps That Got Caught

Flo, the world's most popular period app, got slapped with FTC fines for sharing fertility data with Facebook. Users thought their info was private. Facebook was using it to target ads.

Glow was caught sending intimate details to analytics companies. Your fertility struggles became their profit margins.

Clue admits to sharing "anonymized" data. But here's the thing about anonymized data: it's not really anonymous when combined with other data points. Your zip code, age, and cycle length? That's enough to identify you.

Your period app knows more about your sex life than your best friend. At least your best friend isn't selling that info to pharmaceutical companies.

How They Turn Your Menstruation Into Money

Free apps aren't really free. You're paying with your data, and here's how they cash in:

Data broker sales can net $50-200 per user profile annually. Your cycle data gets packaged with thousands of others and sold to the highest bidder.

Targeted advertising hits you when you're most vulnerable. Late period? Here come the pregnancy test ads. Trying to conceive? Fertility clinic promotions flood your feed.

Insurance risk profiling uses your fertility data to assess life insurance rates. Irregular cycles or fertility issues can literally cost you money down the line.

Pharmaceutical partnerships pay big for symptom patterns. Drug companies want to know who's experiencing what, when, and how often.

Subscription upsells promise to "protect" your data for a monthly fee. It's digital extortion with a pink bow on top.

The pregnancy prediction racket is especially gross. Apps can predict pregnancy before you even know, then sell this information to baby product companies. Suddenly you're drowning in ads for cribs and formula before you've even taken a test.

Post-Roe Reality: When Period Data Becomes Evidence

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, period app data has become a legal liability. Law enforcement can subpoena your cycle information. Prosecutors can use "irregular" patterns as evidence in abortion cases.

This isn't theoretical. A Nebraska teenager was prosecuted using Facebook messages about her periods. Multiple states have requested period app data from companies. Apps with servers in restrictive states have no legal obligation to protect you.

Your period data can literally be used against you in court. Let that sink in.

The Privacy Policy Scam: Fine Print That Screws You Over

Period app privacy policies are masterclasses in deception. They use language designed to confuse and mislead:

"We don't sell your data" actually means "We share it with partners for free, then they pay us for other services."

"Anonymized data" is easily re-identified when combined with other information. Your age, location, and cycle length create a unique fingerprint.

"Necessary for app functionality" is code for "We want this data and we'll make up a reason why we need it." Location tracking isn't necessary to predict your period.

These policies are buried in 47-page documents written by lawyers for lawyers. They're counting on you not reading them.

"I thought 'free' meant free. Turns out I was paying with my most personal information." Sarah, 28, learned this the hard way when targeted ads revealed her pregnancy before she told her family.

Red Flags: How to Spot a Data-Hungry Period App

Watch out for these warning signs:

Requires account creation before you can even look around. Legitimate apps let you explore first.

Asks for location access "for better predictions." Your period doesn't care where you are.

Wants to sync with social media. There's no legitimate reason for this.

Pushes premium features for "privacy protection." Privacy should be standard, not premium.

Privacy policy mentions "partners" or "affiliates." This is code for "we share your data."

Free app with no clear revenue model. If you can't figure out how they make money, you're probably the product.

What Actually Matters for Period App Privacy

Here's what you should demand from any period app:

Local data storage only. Your data should never leave your device. No cloud sync, no backups, no exceptions.

No account required. Anonymous usage protects your identity.

Open source code. Transparency about what the app actually does.

No third-party integrations. No analytics, no advertising networks, no data sharing.

Clear, honest privacy policy. Under two pages, written in plain English.

If your period data isn't stored on your device only, it's not really yours. Cloud sync equals corporate access, always.

A Period App That Doesn't Suck (Or Spy)??

This is why we built Bloody Mary. We were tired of period apps that treat women like walking data points.

Bloody Mary stores everything locally on your device. Zero cloud syncing. No ads, no accounts, no data collection. We can't sell your data because we literally don't have access to it.

We also skip the patronizing pink aesthetic and baby talk. You're an adult dealing with adult biology. You deserve an app that treats you like one.

Our predictions are realistic, not perfect. We won't promise magical accuracy because periods aren't perfectly predictable. But we'll give you honest estimates based on your actual patterns, not algorithmic wishful thinking.

We're just a small team of two working from home doing this as a side project. That means we don't need to sell your data to profit because our overheads are basically nil.

Take Back Control

Your period data belongs to you. Not to advertisers, not to insurance companies, not to data brokers making money off your biology.

You have the right to track your cycle without being tracked yourself. You deserve privacy, honesty, and respect from the apps you trust with your most personal information.

The period app industry has been built on exploiting women's health data for profit. It's time to demand better.

Ready to take back control of your cycle data? Download Bloody Mary and experience period tracking that actually respects your privacy and intelligence.

Because your period is personal. And it should stay that way.