Long Reads
We think federated social media represents a better vision for the internet. Here's an exploration of what it is, and why we like it.
If you’ve ever used TikTok, Instagram, or X/Twitter, you will already be familiar with centralised social media. Centralised social media means big company owns the app, controls the software, and keeps all your data. For example, ByteDance makes TikTok. They own it, run the servers, decide what you
Building on our findings from our previous research, we sought to investigate the data management and sharing practices of menstruation apps with third parties beyond Facebook, as well as to assess whether some of the apps we looked at the first time around had improved their practices as they have claimed.
Go back to the report page Methodology We looked at the top period tracking apps downloaded in the Google Play Store, some of which we had examined in our original research, and some of which are newly emerging apps that have since grown in popularity. The top period-tracking apps with the most
Flo, headquartered in London, UK, is one of the most popular period-tracking apps on the market with over 380 million downloads.
Go back to the full report page Flo, headquartered in London, UK, is one of the most popular period-tracking apps on the market with over 380 million downloads. The app was previously accused of sharing data with Facebook, such as informing Facebook whenever a Flo user was on their period or if they
Period Tracker by Simple Design is another popular period tracking app that has over 150 million users.
Go back to the full report page Period Tracker by Simple Design is another popular period tracking app that has over 150 million users. To begin using this app the user answers a set of three onboarding questions for about their cycle pattern. The user has the option to answer 'I'm not sure' for
The Maya app is a period tracker app by Plackal Tech based in India.
Go back to the full report page The Maya app is a period tracker app by Plackal Tech based in India. In our previous investigation, we revealed Maya was sharing a plethora of user input data to Facebook. However, in response to our 2019 research, the app claimed it had since ‘removed both the
Period Tracker by GP Apps is another popularly downloaded app we previously looked at in 2019.
Go back to the full report page Period Tracker by GP Apps is another popularly downloaded app we previously looked at in 2019. In our original research, we determined that this app did not appear to share any user input data with Facebook. This time, we examined the third parties that the app
The WomanLog app, developed by Pro Active App SIA, is a Latvia-based period tracking app with over 10 million downloads that features an 'Intelligent Assistant' chatbot.
Go back to the full report page The WomanLog app, developed by Pro Active App SIA, is a Latvia-based period tracking app with over 10 million downloads that features an 'Intelligent Assistant' chatbot (more on this below). To get started on the app, we completed a short onboarding questionnaire
Wocute is a Singapore-based period tracking app with over 5 million global downloads.
Go back to the full report page Wocute is a Singapore-based period tracking app with over 5 million global downloads. To get started on the app, a user first needs to complete a short onboarding questionnaire about their goal for using the app ('track my cycle'); their year of birth (which we
Stardust is a New York-based astrology-themed period tracking app that has recently risen in popularity, having received a spike in downloads in the U.S. following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Go back to the full report page Stardust is a New York-based astrology-themed period tracking app that has recently risen in popularity, having received a spike in downloads in the U.S. following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. According to its website, the app takes a de-identification approach to
The last app we looked at was Euki, which has been recognised among privacy advocates.
Go back to the full report page The last app we looked at was Euki, which has been recognised among privacy advocates. The app is a U.S. non-profit privacy-by-default period tracker app founded by a group of social tech and sexual and reproductive health organisations like Digital Defense Fund and