Convenience is queen, and there’s nothing more convenient than tracking your period in an app. But that very same information could be used against you. Women’s health apps, including period trackers, are not protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which ensures information privacy and gives users rights to their own data. In 2022, a location data company sold information around who visited Planned Parenthood clinics, how long they stayed, and their movements afterwards. This was based on just location data, not even cycle tracking data, which would provide an even more complete picture.
This is problematic. If insurance companies are able to buy or access health data, they could base insurance premiums on the information they glean. Knowing that someone is likely to have a condition that might affect fertility, and therefore necessitate costly IUI or IVF treatments in order to become pregnant, could affect the cost of the insurance choices offered to that consumer. Your health data could trigger a pre-existing condition, and affect prices even for those who do not plan to become pregnant.
Pregnancy planning is a reason to track your cycle, but so is knowing your body, your cycle length, symptoms, and flow. This helps you detect any changes that might indicate a medical issue. As you age, your physical and mental health changes. When you reach the perimenopause or menopause stage, it can be incredibly helpful to have your history documented. It’s also important to keep track of what mental health ramifications there are and how your emotions are affected by your cycle day, especially if you have a diagnosed mental health disorder that could be affected by hormones.
What is clear is that it is essential to both continue to track your period and symptoms in order to inform your conversations with your doctor and your healthcare decisions, and also that apps may not be the safest recourse.
There are options that allow you to store your data locally on your drive instead of in the cloud, but if you want to go really old-school, guaranteeing privacy, I Support the Girls (ISTG) provides a paper period tracker you can download and print today. One sheet lasts you an entire year and helps you see visually what symptoms you are experiencing in addition to the timing of your periods.
While health class may tell you that women get their period like clockwork every 28 days, nothing could be farther from the truth. It’s one of the first realities girls learn about their own health. Your period could be one that follows a formula, lasts 3-8 days, and has a normal flow. Or you could be one of the 14%-25% of women who have “irregular periods.”
The vague term “irregular periods” covers variations in periods that can indicate underlying issues. Typically, periods last 21-35 days, but can range up to 45 days for teens. Most periods last 3-8 days, and an average of 3-4 tablespoons of menstrual blood and tissue are discharged each cycle. Some amount of pain and discomfort is normal during ovulation and menses, but intense or prolonged pain can be a sign of something more serious.
Many women go decades believing their period is normal, only to learn that their heavy bleeding, pain or frequent periods are actually symptoms of uterine fibroids, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), or endometriosis. A lack of education and conversation around periods, largely due to the stigma of menstruation being gross or unclean, means that many do not recognize warning signs or abnormalities. This can lead to fertility issues, years of discomfort, anemia or heart stress.
Tracking your period is one of the best tools to be able to show credible proof to a medical professional (or even an AI medical chatbot) that you are experiencing a period outside of the norm. Depending on what symptoms are experienced, there are varying levels of detail necessary. It might be important to note how heavy flow is, or what extraneous symptoms, such as migraines or headaches, extreme emotions, spotting, or cramping are happening. The more information collected, the better as it provides a more complete picture to evaluate.
That said, if you use a period tracking app and live in a state that has enacted laws regarding women’s rights to make choices about their bodies with their doctor, data could be mined by law enforcement. In 2019, a spreadsheet with detailed period tracking information for visitors to Planned Parenthood in Missouri was obtained by the former Missouri state health director in order to track failed abortions. The first Trump administration tracked teen migrant’s cycles to prevent abortions. In 2022, Roe v. Wade was repealed by the Supreme Court, allowing states to determine how they define an abortion and also create their own legislation and regulations.
While data from period tracking apps has not yet been used in a court case, it does not require much imagination to see how it could be. Regardless of the many people who experience irregular periods, and of those who are just inconsistent in tracking their periods, the data could be used to make accusations.
In June 2025, Representative Sara Jacobs from California and Senators Mazie Hirono of Hawai’i and Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced the bicameral “My Body, My Data” bill to the House of Representatives for consideration. This bill gives people agency over their own health data, holds companies responsible for public promises made about published protections, and restricts the companies’ collection and use of reproductive health information in ways not necessary to providing requested services.
In plain language, FemTech companies can’t take your information and sell it, share it, or use it in ways you haven’t given permission for. It gives you ownership of your own data, including the ability to download it off the connected web or delete it altogether.
This bill, “My Body, My Data Act of 2025” (H.R. 3916/S. 2029) is currently still waiting to be reviewed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and a Senate committee. If it were to pass both of these committees, it would come to a vote in the House and Senate, requiring a majority vote. It would then be sent to the President to be signed into law.
Women’s health is often relegated to the back burner, and this is not even the first time My Body, My Data has been brought before Congress. Knowledge about your body and your cycle is too important to ignore. Track your period, but keep your privacy.
