This appeared last week:
Roe v Wade hits women’s digital health worldwide
Digital health apps for women have seen rapid growth in recent years, but predictions that FemTech would become a billion-plus dollar market by 2024 came to a screeching, Republican-led halt mid-this year, with “Delete #periodTrackingApps” trending on social media.
On May 3, when a leaked draft US Supreme court opinion showed abortion rights were under fire, over 100,000 people retweeted advice from California-based cyber-law expert Elizabeth McLaughlin: “If you are using an online period tracker or tracking your cycles through your phone, get off it and delete your data. Now.”
The leak presaged the 24 June US Supreme Court “Dobbs” decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling enshrining constitutional protection of women’s reproductive choices.
The decision by the Supreme Court (whose current conservative majority is a Trump government legacy) left US states in charge of legislative control of abortion and reproductive rights. The US Center for Reproductive Rights estimates that half of US states would ban abortion following the veto on a constitutional right to abortion.
FemTech fallout threatens a billion-dollar industry
The fallout for digital health entrepreneurs in this space has been big, and this month, women’s digital health network FemTech Collective decided to shut its doors.
“After the decision to overturn Roe v Wade we have seen a steep decline in our membership mostly due to privacy and security concerns,” said co-founder Megan Capriccio, in an email to followers this month.
“Unfortunately, due to this decline and the difficulties to provide this community with the standard of offerings they deserve, we have decided it is best to indefinitely suspend FemTech Collective activities.”
To the surprise of nobody anywhere, progress in women’s digital health has been stonewalled by over fears that their data could be weaponised.
As University of Cincinnati online privacy researcher Professor Nora McDonald points out: “Women are at risk not just from what they reveal about their reproductive status on social media, but also by data from their health applications, which could incriminate them if it were subpoenaed.”
The fallout continued just last week: transgender activists are raising concerns of potential targeting in Florida (where laws to ban transgender athletes were passed in June), as the state’s High School Athletics association has contracted sports software company Aktivate to log female athletes’ menstrual cycle data in their standard physical evaluation form.
Lots more here:
https://wildhealth.net.au/roe-v-wade-hits-womens-digital-health-worldwide/
My rather simple view is that any Australian woman should just ignore the whole thrust and reality of this totally US centric issue– which is assuming there are laws in Australia which have similar force and application.
This is simply not true and using an app to modulate your fertility – or any other aspect of your life – is totally your choice and is in no way regulated by crazy and interfering US – predominantly State – laws.
The scenarios for risk cited here
are just total rubbish in OZ and need to be treated as such! To me the premise of this article is both wrong and misleading! In Australia seeking to use contraception or aborting services is legal everywhere....and has been for decades mostly.
Glad to get that off my chest!
David.
1 comment:
Agree David, however as we see with the US the blurring of lines between news and entertainment has an effect and easily manipulated - remember it’s an Aussie at the head of the beast. The other contributing factor is using that medium to turn a third of the people against a third while the other third say nothing.
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