In the past year, women’s data has been used in both positive and negative ways. Some femtech companies have collected menstrual data to develop women’s health tracking apps for menstrual cycles, fertility, and pregnancy monitoring to improve women’s health and well-being. On the other hand, companies have used women’s data to run targeted ads for their products and services, which results in constant monitoring of women.
Companies collect data to identify potential problems and later seek medical attention to diagnose any underlying health conditions. Sharing information about health conditions, coping mechanisms, and treatment options can also be useful for other women with similar health issues. Women’s health apps can also raise awareness about women’s health issues.
Moreover, law enforcement and government bodies use women’s data to track individual women’s movements and activities, which can also be used to target women for surveillance or investigate them for criminal activity. This inadvertently pushes women to advocate for their health. These apps also help women feel less alone and more supported.
Women’s reproductive health data is used in 2023 in a variety of ways
Here are some things that every woman should know about how her data is being used and how she can protect her privacy.
- Use strong passwords and 2FA.
- Be careful about what information you share online, including app and device settings.
- Opt-out of data collection if possible.
- Keep your apps, devices, and software up-to-date.
- Use a VPN when you’re connected to public Wi-Fi.
- Be aware of the risks of using social media. Talk to your child about online privacy and the risks of revenge porn.
- Report suspicious activity to authorities and use a privacy-focused browser and search engine.
This is a real concern, as revenge porn involves sharing a person’s intimate images online without their consent, which can lead to devastating consequences for the victim, including depression, anxiety, and even suicide. As we mentioned before, governments may issue subpoenas to collect women’s reproductive digital footprints to be used against them. All ages across the industry face these challenges, and when it comes to privacy and individual rights, these are the challenges we must overcome.
Data Privacy, Individual Rights, Gender Bias, and Sexual Harassment are some common challenges that need to be addressed. It all begins with the first step, which is the freedom to keep information private.
Femtech has been growing rapidly in recent years since the 2000s, bringing innovative ways to develop a wide range of services and products to address women’s health issues, including menstrual health, fertility, pregnancy, menopause, and sexual health. We have seen recent growth with period-tracking apps, fertility monitors, wearable devices that help women better understand their bodies, and companies working on developing new treatments for conditions such as PCOS, endometriosis, and menopause.
It is still in its early stages, but it does have the potential to improve women’s health. Here are some advantages of reproductive health:
- Increase access to information and resources
- Improve communication with healthcare providers
- Increase awareness of women’s health issues.
Femtech also uses technology to collect and analyze data to better understand women’s bodies and help them make better-informed decisions about their health. Companies use different factors, starting with tracking women’s menstrual cycles, fertility, and menopause symptoms to identify potential health problems. This helps women make informed decisions about their health and advocate for themselves during doctor’s appointments, which can also help other women with similar issues.
Women from ages 18 to 65 have said that their health is not taken as seriously as men’s health. This includes factors like sexism, which often make women’s health issues less visible than men’s health issues. Healthcare providers may also not understand women’s systems or provide them with the best care. Additionally, one of the primary reasons women face these issues is that most doctors are only trained on the male body, which leads some doctors to be uninterested in women’s health.
Femtech is still in its early stages, and currently, it is mostly used in Western nations. According to reports, some of the most popular menstrual apps are Flo, which has 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store. This industry is worth over $50 billion globally and is expected to double by 2030. Despite this growth, Femtech lacks investment; as per Forbes, a minuscule 2.3% of venture capital goes to Femtech. The JMIR Europe Data Privacy Survey identified more than 24 women’s health apps, of which more than 90% were sharing data with third parties, and 60% were tracking users’ locations.
Personal data collected by women’s health apps include location data, search data, chat history, and payment data. However, collecting this personal data can be used to prosecute women seeking or having an abortion. There may be more ways to develop technology to improve women’s health in the future. Two bills have recently been introduced in the US to prevent the collection of certain types of data and to put restrictions on how the data can be used.
To protect women’s privacy, it is important to limit the amount of reproductive data collected and stored from the app. The users should be required to opt in before sharing their data and before any data collection takes place. Additionally, users should be able to choose to delete their data. The bills that have been introduced in the US aim to prevent data brokers from selling private data to third parties and to help citizens protect their privacy by limiting the collection and sharing of personal data to prevent its misuse. However, it is important to note that these bills have not yet become law and are not a perfect solution. They need to address more potential privacy concerns associated with the collection and sharing of personal data.
As we mentioned earlier, the exposure of personal data could lead to negative consequences for women. For example, women who recently had an abortion could be prosecuted in states where abortion is now illegal, and women who use fertility treatments could also be discriminated against by health insurance companies. Additionally, women who have been victims of sexual assault could be re-traumatized if their data is leaked. Women must be alerted if their data is leaked.
