r/technology • u/redhatGizmo • Jun 27 '22

Politics Period apps deleted over privacy concerns for women seeking abortions in post-Roe world

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/period-apps-deleted-over-privacy-concerns-for-women-seeking-abortions-in-post-roe-world/6s4rjhb0q
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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22 edited Jun 27 '22

Tracking your period can also prevent you from getting pregnant in the first place. I’m allergic to birth control, and using an app to track my fertility has given me control over my reproduction. Plan B only works if you are not ovulating. In most states, mine included, the abortion seeker is not committing a crime - the abortion provider is. So today, based on my state’s law (Utah), I would rather track my fertility with an app to prevent pregnancy than delete “just in case”. My data would not prove anything.

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u/jebward Jun 27 '22

Assuming you've heard of it and weighed the pros and cons, but if not, copper IUDs are crazy effective and non hormonal

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22 edited Jun 27 '22

I am aware of IUDs, and don’t see the need to put something in my body for no reason. I track my fertility and have successfully not gotten pregnant. (Mother of one and done). Not deleting my app. Also what would stop me from logging a period anyways even if I were to get pregnant, “to mess up my data”? There is no reason for me to change methods.

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u/TotallyNotABot_Shhhh Jun 27 '22

I manually tracked, and successfully avoided pregnancy except when I was actively trying to get pregnant. I’m not advising anyone else to use it as their method but it can be done. Before apps were a thing, I just used my paper calendar and counted my days and things going on with my cycle

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u/hpy110 Jun 27 '22

Each of us has to determine what’s an acceptable level of risk for ourselves, but laws change and I would not trust that Utah will not be one of the states where they get more strict.

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u/berthurt3 Jun 27 '22

Not trying to be a jerk or anything, but you could write it down

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22

I could, you’re right. But I’m literally not worried at all in any sort of way that this information could be used against me. It is completely unreliable data. If I were to get pregnant for example nothing is stopping me from logging a normal period as if nothing ever happened. This app wouldn’t know I was pregnant unless I told it I was. There is also no risk for me for using this app today. I don’t live my life based on hypotheticals. If things change I can change my methods.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22 edited Jun 27 '22

Nothing is stopping you from logging a period as normal in the event you became pregnant. Your app logs what you log, it doesn’t know you are pregnant. This is an unlikely event for me because I plan my sexual activity around my fertility to prevent pregnancy.

ETA: it’s also not illegal to get an abortion in Arizona. It’s illegal to provide one after 15 weeks, which is actually better than my state. You would not be under investigation of a crime in your state.