If you’re using a period tracking app, you are part of a sprawling surveillance economy you probably didn’t even know existed. According to a June 2025 report from the University of Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, that handy calendar app is also a data goldmine for advertisers, insurance companies, and government officials.The report, as detailed by Gizmodo’s Ellyn Lapointe, dives into how menstrual tracking apps collect more than just info about when cramping started and if your flow was light or heavy. They track sexual activity, health conditions, medication use, and all the metadata associated with it. This data gets vacuumed up, sometimes without “meaningful consent,” and sold off, because in the ad world, pregnancy data is 200 times more valuable than your age, gender, or location.Targeted ads for breast pumps and pregnancy pillows might be creepy, but the consequences of giving your data directly to a government that is openly hostile to women can be far worse. In Missouri, state officials used menstrual data to target abortion providers. Your Period Tracking App Might Be Your EnemyUnder Trump, the federal government tracked the cycles of undocumented teen girls to prevent them from accessing abortions. Such is life in a post-Roe America where abortion is banned or severely restricted in over 20 states.Private employers have been getting in on the horrors as well. Employers can theoretically use this data to make hiring or promotion decisions. Insurance companies could raise your premiums. Cyberstalkers can track your reproductive status. Welcome to digital patriarchy, brought to you by that cute little flower icon on your home screen.While period trackers in the EU and UK are subject to stronger regulations, enforcement is weak, and privacy policies are vague, probably intentionally so. In the U.S., these apps are regulated about as much as a step counter app is, and other wellness devices, which, considering the highly politicized nature of women’s bodies nowadays, seems intentionally unregulated.Lead researcher Stefanie Felsberger says the solution isn’t to ditch these apps altogether—some provide genuinely helpful insights. Instead, she recommends switching to non-commercial alternatives run by nonprofits or research institutions. Don’t use any menstrual cycle-tracking apps that try to use your data as their primary business model and revenue source.The post Your Period Tracking App Data Is Being Sold and Used Against You appeared first on VICE.