DALLAS -- A new study shows many period and fertility tracking apps aren’t clear about what user data they would share with law enforcement, raising concerns the information could be used to prosecute people in states where abortion is banned.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, several states, including Texas, have implemented near-total bans on abortion.
The study, released Wednesday by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, found that 18 of 25 popular period and pregnancy tracking apps and wearable devices raised privacy concerns.
Most of the apps surveyed did not have privacy policies that clearly explained what data could be shared with U.S law enforcement, according to Mozilla. These apps also share a wide range of data with third-party businesses and research institutions, and some do not have strong password protection or encryption features.
“Our research confirms that users should think twice before using most reproductive health apps; their privacy policies are riddled with loopholes and they fail to properly secure intimate data,” Ashley Boyd, Mozilla’s vice president of advocacy, said in a prepared statement.
In July, the U.S House Oversight Committee asked several app developers and data brokers to provide more information about the reproductive health data they collect from users, and to whom they sell it.
Seema Mohapatra, a law professor at Southern Methodist University, said consumer behavior is one of many new privacy concerns in a post-Roe world.
“It is not clear if some of these trackers, these companies, would voluntarily give this information, or would only give it if it is required by law enforcement,” she said.
Many of the apps Mozilla reviewed do not specify if they would give police the data they request without a subpoena.
“We much prefer when companies state they won’t give up user data to law enforcement unless required to under subpoena, and even then, we like to see them commit to only giving up the bare minimum necessary,” the foundation said in its privacy reviews.
Mohapatra said she is not aware of any Texas cases that have used data from period or pregnancy tracking apps as evidence. Texas law, including the abortion ban that officially goes into effect Aug. 25, does not criminalize women who have abortions, but Mohapatra said the apps could be used to help prove someone provided an abortion.
Earlier this year in Nebraska, law enforcement obtained Facebook messages as evidence to charge a mother and daughter for allegedly inducing an abortion after the state’s 20-week cutoff.
In addition to tracking apps, Mohapatra said there are a lot of ways reproductive health information can show up in digital footprints, such as search histories.
“People could be selling this information for other purposes, so these kinds of studies are welcomed to raise consumer awareness,” Mohapatra said.
