Researchers at Mozilla investigated over two dozen period and pregnancy tracking apps and wearable devices for their privacy and security practices. Of the apps and devices studied, 18 received Mozilla’s “*Privacy Not Included” warning label.
PUBLISHED 3:38 PM EDT Aug. 22, 2022Roe v. Wade
The concern rests primarily in states that have already or might soon restrict abortions based on fetal viability. Previously,defined fetal viability as the “interim point at which the fetus becomes … potentially able to live outside the mother's womb,” typically between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation. Many states ban abortion before that definition of viability, at 20 weeks after fertilization, or about 22 weeks of gestation — the time since the patient's last menstrual period.
Of the apps and devices studied, 18 received Mozilla’s “*Privacy Not Included” warning label. Mozilla looks for a number of factors when identifying a product as such, and a company must fail two or more of its benchmarks, which include how the company uses the data it collects from users, how users can control and protect their data, a company’s known track record of protecting users’ data and a general minimum security standards check.
Sprout also noted “the app data is only backed up to the user’s personal iCloud or Google Drive account,” and that “any legal data requests would need to be submitted to Apple and Google as all personal data is only stored on the user’s iCloud or Google Drive account only.” In a statement, Ibis Reproductive Health, a non-profit organization which developed Euki with international activist group Women Help Women, said it was "pleased" to see the app receive such recognition.
Facebook has said that officials at the social media giant “always scrutinize every government request we receive to make sure it is legally valid.”