The women’s health app market, projected to exceed $18 billion by 2031, has seen little trust from users due to privacy concerns. The apps collect personal data like menstrual cycles, sexual activity, and pregnancy status, along with email addresses and phone numbers, raising privacy issues. Researchers have flagged practices like covert data collection, inconsistent privacy policies, inadequate data deletion mechanisms, and more at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Honolulu.
The study evaluated 20 popular women’s health apps on the U.S. and U.K. Google Play Store to analyze their privacy policies and data management practices. They discovered invasive data collection practices, linkage of user data to web searches, and requirements to disclose sensitive information like miscarriages or abortions to access data deletion features. Some apps showed patterns of manipulating users to divulge personal information, posing privacy and safety risks for users.
Lisa Mekioussa Malki, a researcher at University College London, highlighted the study’s implications, emphasizing that leaked reproductive health data could lead to discrimination, stalking, intimate partner violence, and workplace biases. The ease with which user data can reach advertisers and analytics companies poses serious privacy concerns, especially when sensitive inferences can be drawn about users. Lack of transparency and understanding for users regarding data sharing practices is a major issue.
Malki suggested users look for data deletion features in apps or contact developers directly to ensure the protection of their data, particularly citing the right to be forgotten if living in Europe. The advice cautioned against merely deleting the app, as backups may still be stored on the developers’ servers. For developers, Malki stressed the need to shift from compliance-driven data privacy to a user-centric, ethical design approach. Understanding user needs, potential risks, and designing with privacy in mind from the outset is crucial for building trust with users.
Developed framework for evaluating privacy policies can aid researchers, developers, auditors, and compliance teams in automating large-scale analysis of app privacy policies. By incorporating more humanistic and user experience considerations into the design process and revising compliance-oriented attitudes towards privacy, developers can create more ethical and trustworthy women’s health apps in the future.
