Period tracking apps know things about your body that you might not share with your closest friends: your cycle timing, symptoms, sexual activity, pregnancy attempts, and health conditions. This data is extraordinarily sensitive — and the privacy practices of these apps vary enormously.
In the post-Dobbs legal environment in the US, reproductive health data has taken on new significance. Period tracking data has been cited as potentially usable in legal proceedings related to reproductive choices. Even outside the US, this data can affect health insurance, employment decisions, and personal safety.
The Mozilla Foundation's 2022 and 2026 privacy reviews found that many period apps failed basic privacy standards — collecting more data than necessary, using loose data sharing language in their privacy policies, and in some cases actively selling health data to third parties.
In 2021, the FTC charged Flo Health with sharing users' menstrual health data with Facebook, Google, and other marketing analytics companies despite explicitly promising not to. Flo settled the charges and updated its practices, but the track record remains concerning. Flo's premium model also means it has incentives to maximize data collection to fund free-tier services.
Ovia's parent company Labcorp sells aggregated reproductive health data to self-insured employers. While described as anonymized, reproductive health data can be re-identified. An employer accessing even aggregated pregnancy and health data about their workforce creates obvious potential for discrimination.
WomensPal does not sell your data to any third party. It is GDPR-compliant. The business model is not dependent on monetizing user health data — WomensPal is free and funded by its founders, not by selling user information. See the full privacy breakdown at Is WomensPal Safe?
Clue is based in Germany and subject to strict GDPR enforcement. It has stated clearly it does not sell user data. It uses some analytics tools but with significantly more disclosure than US-based apps.
Drip is the most private option available: open-source, no account required, no server connection. Your data never leaves your phone. If privacy is your primary concern, Drip is the choice.
Red flags to watch for in any app's privacy policy: "We may share data with business partners" (vague data sharing), "aggregated or de-identified data" sold to third parties (can be re-identified), no mention of right to delete your data, US-only operations with no GDPR compliance, and no clear statement about law enforcement data requests.
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