Here’s how the most popular period trackers are dealing with your data. 

Keeping your period-related information safe and private is now more important than ever. 

On June 24, the United States Supreme Court officially overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights. Now, each state can choose to limit or ban abortion altogether. 

Because of this, lawyer Elizabeth McLaughlin turned to Twitter to warn women that they should immediately delete their period tracking apps. 

“If you think that your data showing when you last menstruated isn’t of interest to those who are about to outlaw abortion, whew do I have a wakeup call for YOU,” tweeted McLaughlin. “Combine that with location tracking information and when you last menstruated and where you are seeking healthcare and you have a target on your back.”

According to McLaughlin, in states where abortion is illegal, data collected by period tracking apps could be used as digital evidence against a woman who ended her pregnancy. 

How popular period trackers handle your data

Even if you’re not living somewhere abortion is illegal, it’s still important to ensure that your health-related data are safe. For this reason, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most secure period apps available.

1. Clue

Clue is one of the safest period trackers because it’s based in Europe. Therefore, it must comply with GDPR and other stringent regulations about privacy. 

Ida Tin, co-founder and chairwoman at Clue, explained in a blog post how the app stores and anonymizes your data. Each data point (i.e. a bit of information like the last time you had sex or period cramps) is de-identified, so it cannot be traced back to the user’s identity. 

The company only shares anonymized data with “carefully-selected researchers” for studies about menstrual health. Tin also explained that “it’s unlikely for Clue to be hacked with intense security measures.”

Clue reacted to the Roe v. Wade overturn by reassuring US-based users that their data won’t be shared with the authorities. 

In a statement on its official website, Clue also explained that European laws prevent the company from sharing data with the US authorities, even if said data are subpoenaed. 

“We would have a primary legal duty under European law not to disclose any private health data,” wrote Clue. “We repeat: we would not respond to any disclosure request or attempted subpoena of our users’ health data by US authorities. But we would let you and the world know if they tried.”

2. Stardust

Following the Roe v. Wade overturn, Stardust became one of the most downloaded apps on the Google Play Store. The reason? Because it was quick to promise increased privacy to users in the US. 

“If the government issues a subpoena to find out about your menstrual tracking data, we will not be able to produce anything for them,” the company wrote in a tweet just days after the decision of the Supreme Court. Stardust claimed that the data you enter in the app can’t be associated with your identity. 

Stardust also promised to never sell the users’ personal information to any third party. However, the critics say that these claims are not true.

TechCrunch claimed that if you use your phone number to log in, Stardust periodically shares it with an analytics platform called Mixpanel. No health data from the app are shared with the third-party platform.

Rachel Moranis, Stardust’s founder, explained in a statement to TechCrunch that sharing with Mixpanel was disabled in the newest version of the app. 

TechCrunch claims that days after Moranis’ statement, the company changed its privacy policy, saying that they could share depersonalized data with third parties as well as the government and law enforcement authorities. 

Stardust said in a tweet that the company is working on a way for users to use the app without creating an account and to “opt out of providing any personal identifiable information.”

3. Flo

In 2021, the popular period tracking app Flo was in the spotlight, but not in a good way. The Federal Trade Commission accused it of sharing sensitive health-related information with third parties like Facebook and Google.

The app also allegedly misled consumers by “promising that such information would be kept private.” Flo has settled the dispute by having an independent review of the company’s privacy practices, as The Verge reports.

In response to the Roe v. Wade overturn, Flo will offer an Anonymous Mode. As NPR reports, this upcoming feature will let users dissociate their identifiable data from their accounts. Users who already have an account will be able to keep using the app just like before—but their name, email address, and technical identifiers will be removed.

Your safest bet could be not using an app at all

If you live a state where abortions are (or will become soon) illegal and are concerned about prosecution, your safest bet is tracking your period using a physical notebook, like MIT Technology Review suggests. On Etsy and other sites, you’ll find plenty of printable period trackers. If you don’t want to go completely analog, the same article recommends using an interactive spreadsheet or digital calendar.

Even if you aren’t affected by the Roe v. Wade overturn, pay attention to where your sensitive data goes. Remember to read the privacy policy of any period tracker carefully before using it.

Image sources: Cliff Booth

The post Top Period Tracking Apps–Ranked by Privacy Settings appeared first on Future of Sex.

Controlling a partner’s sex toy remotely sounds exciting. But what are the privacy-related risks?   

People worry all the time about having their passwords exposed online but are often unaware of the potential risks associated with many Internet-connected toys. 

When it comes to these devices, privacy is even more important. A smart adult toy and its dedicated app can collect very private data about the user’s sex life.

White-hat hackers claim many popular smart adult toys aren’t secure

In 2017, We-Vibe had to pay £3 million in compensation because of an alleged security flaw in their app. 

According to two hackers, the app was collecting intimate data, such as the real-time temperature of the device, the vibration intensity, and the exact time the user was playing with the device. We-Vibe claimed that these data were only used for statistical purposes, but they failed to warn the users, so two female customers decided to sue the company. 

In the same year, white-hat hackers from the Internet security firm Pen Test Partners could break into the Svakom Siime Eye’s web interface. This popular vibrator features an endoscopic camera. Pen Test Partners claims that its staff could access any user’s camera feed with surprising ease. The white-hat hackers also say they were able to locate any user playing with the device. 

Additionally, the firm claimed that even a person with basic hacking skills could do this and violate the privacy of a Siime Eye user. 

SEC Consult, another cyber security firm, allegedly found “multiple critical vulnerabilities” in smart sex toys from Vibratissimo. The Vibratissimo app has a chat feature that lets users exchange private photos and messages with an intimate partner. However, SEC Consult alleged that photos and texts sent through the app were “basically readable for everyone on the Internet”, along with email addresses and passwords. 

That’s because “the credentials for the whole Vibratissimo database environment were exposed on the internet”. According to the security firm, hackers can also control a user’s vibrator without their consent over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. No need to be in the victim’s proximity.

The Vibratissimo app offers a “quick control” feature, so the user can quickly request their partner to control their toy by sending them a link over a text or email. This way, the user doesn’t need to wait for their playmate to sign up for an account. 

SEC Consult said that the unique ID associated with the control request link is easy to guess for any hacker. “An attacker can guess this ID easily and therefore control the victim’s sex toy directly over the internet,” warns the security firm.

Why sex toy security breaches happen

The main culprit for the vulnerability issues of most connected toys seems to be the Bluetooth technology. Most smart sex toys use Bluetooth to connect to the user’s phone and receive commands. “Even simply opening the Bluetooth explorer on your phone will reveal nearby smart adult devices that are powered on,” said Pen Test Partners’ Ken Munro to Wired. 

Munro also said that most Internet-connected adult toys lack a secure Bluetooth connection, making it simple for a hacker nearby to control the pleasure of the user without their consent.

Pleasure vs. Privacy: How to find a compromise

“People are extremely concerned with neighbors hearing the buzz of their vibrators,” says Armando Sparapani, owner of Number One Sex Shop in Ancona, Italy.

“Every day, I get asked for ways to conceal a sex toy so my customer’s parents or husband can’t find it. But people are dangerously unaware that a hacker — or simply a tech-savvy neighbor — can access their private data.”

“For now, your safest bet to pleasure a faraway partner is using an offline voice-controlled vibrator,” suggests Sparapani. “Just talk to your partner over any video chat service of your choice or even a traditional phone call. The vibrator will change the stimulation intensity based on the rhythm and volume of your voice. If you choose video chat, make sure that you choose a service with adequate encryption.” 

More and more sex tech companies are working hard to fix vulnerability issues and create a safer experience for vibrator users. 

Joris Guisado, Lovense’s COO, confessed to Wired that Pen Test Partners hacking his company’s sex toys and demonstrating their vulnerabilities was actually a good thing. After that incident, Lovense reached out to Pen Test Partner and is now working together with the security firm to enhance the safety of its Internet-connected sex toys. 

“My customers are thrilled at the idea of controlling a partner’s sex toy with their phone,” continues Sparapani. “I definitely see a bright future for Internet-connected vibrators. I hope that the industry will implement safer controlling technologies, so the customers will never have to choose between privacy and fun.”  

Image sources: Dainis Graveris

The post What to Consider Before Buying a Bluetooth-Enabled Sex Toy appeared first on Future of Sex.