this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2024
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submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

There are downsides with downloading their app just to input bad data, but it's a fun thought.


edit: While we're at it we might as well offer an alternative app to people.

I posted in [email protected] to collect recommendations for better apps

The post: https://lemmy.ca/post/32877620

Leading Recommendation from the comments

The leading recommendation seems to be Drip (bloodyhealth.gitlab.io)

Summarizing what people shared:

  • accessible: it is on F-droid, Google Play, & iOS App Store
  • does not allow any third-party tracking
  • the project got support from "PrototypeFund & Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Superrr Lab and Mozilla"
  • Listed features:
    • "Your data, your choice: Everything you enter stays on your device"
    • "Not another cute, pink app: drip is designed with gender inclusivity in mind."
    • "Your body is not a black box: drip is transparent in its calculations and encourages you to think for yourself."
    • "Track what you like: Just your period, or detect your fertility using the symptothermal method."

Their Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@dripapp

(page 2) 50 comments
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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Edit. Doh. I misread as "i don't get it" lol. I'm leaving it anyway for anyone who needs an explanation.


Trump won the US election. The republican plan for trumps presidency is project 2025. In project 2025 they treat women as third class citizens (men are first and fetuses are second). Of the many plans for women, project 2025 aims to use data to identify pregnant women in order to ensure fetuses aren't aborted. Under project 2025 abortion is illegal, and miscarriages are treated as an abortion until proven that it was a natural miscarriage. The republican party has already started approaching period tracking apps for data, and this post is suggesting to pollute the data in period tracking apps with the idea of making it harder to identify missed periods due to pregnancy.

On a more practical note, however, individual's tracking their periods should be using open source software to track periods instead to prevent a company from giving away your data.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Why in the world do we even need apps for this stuff? There is no reason to give your data to these companies at all.

Here's a crazy thought: get a journal. And write in it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

The absolute madlad

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[–] captain_aggravated 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What is the actual goal here and will this behavior achieve that goal? Are we...

Adding a bunch of bullshit fictional data into a database that contains and will continue to gather legitimate data.

It strikes me that this would make the entire dataset less useful for legitimate medical research while not really doing much against targeted attacks. I could see some women's health researchers using anonymized data from something like this, and noise from people vomiting into it in protest would destroy it for that use. Or, you'd notice a bunch of accounts all join at about the same time making nonsensical data and just ignore the data from the accounts that joined around that time. Meanwhile I doubt this will stop the Gestation Gestapo from correlating genuine data with the actual identity of its owner.

Are you going to try to input obviously fake data? Make an attempt at realistic data? Try to trigger a Gestation Gestapo death squad, trying to make the service useless via false positives?

Or run up the service's data bills and maybe take up some of their cloud storage with fake data?

Start adding bullshit fictional data coinciding with women genuinely leaving the service

What would this accomplish that just having women stop using the thing do?

I've been trying to make that point for over a decade now. I think I get to unironically drop this xkcd. The alt text mentions diaspora, lol.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago

Done. If only I could script it...

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

iOS has a first party health app that has menstrual tracking. I’m under the impression Apple takes data security seriously. If you don’t, self hosted is probably best.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (9 children)

Why are such apps popular? Do these offer something more than what a combination of reminders and notes (digital or analog) providr?

Perhaps, these apps offer some insights based on the data. But would one take the risk of listening to an app for medical advice?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Yeah, the only way anyone should have ever trusted these is if the data was stored locally only. There's no reason for it to be uploaded.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Okay, but since real menstrual cycles are typically highly regular - wouldn't it be fairly easy to filter out the fake ones?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Will it work if I do this from Canada? I haven't had a period in over 4 years (help, I've been pregnant for 4 years!) But I want to help y'all too!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I am doing my part. Don't really know what I am doing, just happy to br a part of it.

Edit. Is this normal? Just presse at random

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think this app is a poop tracker. Tick the days your poops take an extra flush, and then also the days you get a clean release. That should help you track your bowel movements effectively. You're welcome.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

I use mine entirely differently. Now that we're into November it's been quiet.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I think it would be easy for them to filter extremely atypical period patterns - usually you aren’t go to have a one day period. In between spotting is something you talk to a doctor about. Two a month would be awful.

Realistically, think about 4-7 days. Regular cycles, one a month. Usually about the same amount of time between each. To really fake the data, log intensity. Starts with spotting, usually intensifies in the middle, then slows down again. (To be really extra, log some clots lol)

The best way to help would be to pollute the data set with as many fake pregnancies as possible. Log regularly, take a break for about three months, then log another to simulation an abortion or miscarriage.

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