Urgent Call for Public Health Apps to Safeguard Women's Menstrual Data

Public health organizations are being urged to develop menstrual tracking applications that prioritize user data protection, following a report highlighting the risks associated with private period tracker apps. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge, underscores that women’s personal information is increasingly vulnerable to exploitation by commercial entities, particularly as the market for femtech continues to expand.

The report reveals that menstrual cycle tracking applications have emerged as a lucrative source of consumer profiling, collecting extensive data on users’ habits, health, and preferences. Dr. Stefanie Felsberger, the lead author of the report from Cambridge's Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, emphasized that the financial worth of this data is often underestimated by users. "There are real and frightening privacy and safety risks to women as a result of the commodification of the data collected by cycle tracking app companies," she stated in an interview conducted on June 10, 2025.

The implications of compromised menstrual data are significant, potentially affecting job opportunities, health insurance rates, and personal safety. In the United States, for instance, tracking data has been linked to efforts that undermine access to abortion, further complicating the privacy landscape surrounding reproductive health.

The Cambridge study indicates that most cycle tracking apps are primarily used by women trying to conceive, which increases the commercial value of the data collected. The report notes that data regarding pregnancy can be worth over 200 times more than basic demographic information such as age or gender. In 2024, it was estimated that the three leading period tracking apps collectively reached a global download figure of approximately 250 million.

As the femtech industry is projected to surpass $60 billion by 2027, experts are calling for public health bodies such as the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to create transparent and trustworthy alternatives to existing commercial applications. Dr. Felsberger argued, "The UK is ideally positioned to solve the question of access to menstrual data for researchers, as well as privacy and data commodification concerns, by developing an NHS app to track menstrual cycles."

The push for public health alternatives is further supported by Prof. Gina Neff, Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre, who remarked, "Women deserve better than to have their menstrual tracking data treated as consumer data." In contrast, existing regulations in the UK and EU classify period tracking data as a 'special category' of sensitive information, offering users greater legal protections. However, in the United States, the collection of such data has been employed in ways that potentially threaten reproductive rights.

In light of these findings, stakeholders within the health sector recognize an urgent need for the establishment of public health apps that not only protect users’ data but also contribute to medical research. Dr. Felsberger highlighted that apps designed within public healthcare systems could mitigate privacy violations, enhance data accuracy on reproductive health, and empower users regarding their data usage.

The report serves as a critical reminder of the necessity for responsible governance in the burgeoning femtech industry, advocating for user-centric models of data collection and application design to ensure the safety and rights of women are upheld in the digital age.