Health apps, as part of the digital health technology boom, are commonplace and some are marketed to help women to either become pregnant or as a means of contraception. An estimated 200 million women worldwide have downloaded apps offering these services.
According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, a U.K. based medical professional organization, women should not rely on these apps. The medical body has tested some of the apps independently and found them to be inaccurate. The apps are not considered to be medical devices and they are not subject to any regulation by medical professionals.
As well as concerns about accuracy, some privacy campaigners caution users to be wary of what data they could unwittingly be sharing when they download and use the apps. many health apps collect user information and use this for later analysis. Sometimes the collected data is sold on to third parties.
Interviewed by BBC Health, Ida Tin, who is behind the Berlin-based app Clue acknowledges that no app on the market is accurate enough to provide definitive information on fertility. Tin defends the collecting and analysis of user data as the best way to achieve a future app that is more accurate and can aid women in making choices.
Here Tin is quoted as saying: “I wanted to develop the next generation of technology for family planning – and I do believe we’ll get there. But we’re not there yet.” Shen then added: “The app is a very powerful tool. I can’t do what our users want me to do unless I use their data.”
