Aug 19, 2022 08:00:00

Mozilla's survey found that more than 90% of pregnancy apps are ``privacy spills''

On August 17, 2022, Mozilla announced that 18 out of 20 apps for

reproductive health and fertility treatments had a risk of personal information leakage. As the Roe vs. Wade ruling , which allows abortion for women in the United States, is overturned and abortion is becoming illegal, there is growing concern that the data collected by the app will be used to investigate women seeking abortion.

Mozilla Foundation - In Post Roe v. Wade Era, Mozilla Labels 18 of 25 Popular Period and Pregnancy Tracking Tech With *Privacy Not Included Warning
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/in-post-roe-v-wade-era-mozilla-labels-18-of-25-popular-period-and-pregnancy-tracking-tech-with- privacy-not-included-warning/

Mozilla surveyed 10 popular period tracking apps, 10 pregnancy tracking apps, and 5 wearable devices capable of tracking fertility. We found that out of a total of 25 apps and devices, only 7 had a privacy policy that could keep personal information safe. When targeting apps, only 2 out of 20 passed Mozilla's security review.

Below is a list of the apps and wearable devices surveyed. Those marked with a yellow triangle are products labeled ' *Privacy Not Included ' by Mozilla as a safety warning. Click to see a larger image, or use this link to visit Mozilla's site for more information.

More than half of the apps surveyed had no clear guidelines for sharing data with law enforcement, and eight didn't even meet Mozilla's minimum security standards. Among them, an app called Sprout Pregnancy, which allows users to create their own personal pregnancy timeline calendar, had no privacy policy in the first place.

Of the 20 apps,

Euki was the only app that matched the 'Best Of' list created by Mozilla to help you make safe choices. The app asks for a password twice, once to open the app and once to access the data. It is said that there is also a function to do. Runner-up, the security of an app called Natural Cycles is also praised.

In addition, the five wearable devices surveyed, Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, Oura Ring, and Whoop Strap, were all recognized as safe.

In the background of such an investigation, there is a circumstance that abortion prohibition laws have been enacted in various parts of the United States due to the overturning of the Roe vs. Wade judgment, which made the law prohibiting artificial abortion unconstitutional.

In June 2022, it became a problem when it was discovered that a period management app shared the user's phone number with the outside, and in August, a 17-year-old woman and her mother who had an illegal abortion. A mother and child have been arrested after Meta provided the police with a private chat that was exchanged on Facebook.

Meta provides the private chat of a 17-year-old girl who had an illegal abortion to the police without consent, and the person and the mother are prosecuted - GIGAZINE

'Overnight, an app or device trusted by millions of people could be used to accuse abortion seekers,' said Ashley Boyd, Mozilla's vice president of advocacy, in a statement. Our research confirms that the vast majority of reproductive health apps require users to think twice before using them, and their privacy policies are riddled with loopholes and sensitive data. cannot be adequately protected,” he warned.