The fertility app Premom may have collected and shared user data without consent, researchers recently said.
What’s going on?
Research the International Digital Accountability Council found that the app Premom — which gives its more than 500,000 users a “simple, effective and affordable solution for all trying to conceive” — may have collected a broad amount of data and shared it with three Chinese companies focused on advertising, The Washington Post reports.
- The IDAC — which monitors apps to protect consumer data — released letters to the Federal Trade Commission about the data-sharing, which “was deceptive and potentially ran afoul of federal and state law,” according to The Washington Post.
According to reports, Premom users were not offered any way to opt out of data sharing.
There’s pretty extensive and sensitive data collection going on here with respect to a large number of users who don’t have any reason to know about this data collection. It’s particularly concerning when we see this behavior with respect to an app that’s targeted at women trying to become pregnant, said Quentin Palfrey, president of IDAC, to The Washington Post.
More on fertility apps
It’s unclear how much you should trust fertility apps when trying to get pregnant. As Mashable reported, research has found that the apps might not be successful due to human error.
If a user misjudges when they have the best chance to get pregnant, they could end up missing the mark for months without end because of apps.
- “While an app can be a wonderful way for a woman to track her data, she shouldn’t rely on it to tell her when she may be fertile.” — Dr. Marguerite Duane said, per Mashable.