The staff behind menstrual well being and period monitoring app Clue has mentioned it is not going to disclose customers’ knowledge to American authorities, following Donald Trump‘s reelection.
The message is available in response to considerations that in Trump’s second presidency, abortion bans that adopted the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 will worsen and states will try to extend menstrual surveillance as a way to additional limit entry to terminations.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has blocked a invoice within the state that will have banned legislation enforcement from imposing search warrants for menstrual knowledge saved in monitoring apps on cell phones or different digital gadgets, in response to the Houston Chronicle. And different states have handed or tried to cross payments that will require medical care services and suppliers to report why girls obtained abortions, in addition to different private data.
Newsweek has reached out to Clue, the Trump marketing campaign and Youngkin for remark by way of e-mail.
In an announcement on TikTok, feminine and male workers members at Clue, based mostly in Berlin, stand along with arms crossed, together with a textual content on display that reads: “We have now by no means and can by no means disclose any member’s non-public well being knowledge to any authority. If we’re ever subpoenaed, we is not going to comply.”
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Clue’s video has since gone viral on TikTok and gained 160,000 likes, greater than 6,000 bookmarks, and almost 1,500 feedback.
In an announcement on-line yesterday from Clue, CEO Rhiannon White mentioned, “Clue was created to provide the capability to construct your personal cycle well being report and to have the ability to use it to realize invaluable insights to assist in giving you company in relation to your menstrual and reproductive well being.
“With Clue, you’ve got the flexibility to raised perceive what is going on on inside your physique. It turns your knowledge right into a useful resource. One that may enable you to uncover and anticipate patterns, determine modifications, make knowledgeable choices, and in some instances, even save your life.”
She added: “It is why we so firmly imagine that as girls and other people with cycles, our well being knowledge should serve us and by no means be used in opposition to us or for anybody else’s agenda.
“We take the duty of defending it extraordinarily critically, as a result of everybody ought to have the ability to confidently maintain a well being report and belief that it’ll at all times be saved secure and safe. And that’s precisely our promise to you. Now and at all times.”
The period-tracking app was based in 2012 by Ida Tin, Hans Raffauf, Moritz von Buttlar, and Mike LaVigne and permits 10 million folks in over 190 international locations to trace their menstrual cycle. Clue doesn’t retailer or share customers’ knowledge, which is taken into account delicate knowledge, with out specific permission, in response to the Mozilla Basis.
Within the U.S. in 2022, there have been 55 million customers of Clue and Flo, one other period-tracking app. Clue informed Newsweek nearly all of its 10 million energetic month-to-month customers are situated within the U.S. Clue was attracting the third highest income of period-tracking apps globally in July 2024, as proven on this graph created by Newsweek.
Trump has mentioned he wouldn’t signal a federal abortion ban, leaving abortion entry as much as particular person states. However Trump’s administration may additional restrict abortion entry via the FDA rescinding the licensing of the abortion treatment mifepristone.
The Trump administration may additionally restrict abortion entry by imposing the 1873 Comstock Act which prohibits mailing and receiving ‘obscene’ supplies, particularly these meant to induce abortion, or prohibit suppliers who obtain federal help from referring sufferers searching for abortion care.
The analysis and coverage NGO the Guttmacher Institute additionally not too long ago reported that implementation of the Comstock Act may additionally permit the Trump administration to successfully ban entry to abortion nationwide.
The Institute additionally highlighted that the Trump administration may cease imposing the Emergency Medical Therapy and Labor Act’s requirement that “hospitals present emergency abortion care to any affected person who wants it,” in addition to eradicate President Joe Biden‘s actions to guard and develop entry to reproductive providers.
Out of worry of what lies forward, girls throughout the nation have been getting ready for brand new restrictions relating to abortion entry by stockpiling abortion tablets and hormones, with one supplier, Support Entry, receiving greater than 5,000 requests in 12 hours, in response to the Guardian.
Different suppliers started seeing comparable outcomes shortly after the election. There was a 300 p.c improve in requests for emergency contraception from the telehealth service Wisp and the abortion tablet nonprofit Plan C had a 625 p.c improve in visitors.
Abortion access did slightly widen on election day, nevertheless, as seven out of 10 states together with Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, and extra handed poll measures that may shield or develop entry to abortion care.
Interval-tracker app Flo has additionally made comparable efforts to safeguard customers’ knowledge and posted on Instagram about their “Nameless Mode” which “provides you entry to Flo with out the likelihood that your data may very well be traced again to you.”
Newsweek reached out to Flo.well being for remark by way of e-mail.
