Employers can reportedly pay the developer of a pregnancy-tracking app to get “de-identified” aggregate information of workers’ pregnancies—including how many workers were using the app, the general health of the pregnancies, and when new moms planned on returning to work. According to The Washington Post, tracking app Ovia encourages women to input data related to their pregnancies, from the early months to the birth of their child. The app’s terms of use agreement reportedly gives the developer an “irrevocable license” to “utilize and exploit” their personal data, including “sell, lease or lend[ing]” the data to “third parties.” Employers who offer the app alongside other health benefits reportedly have access to an “internal employer website” that shows workers’ health data. While the data shared with employers is only available in aggregate from with no identities tied to the data, health and privacy advocates told the Post the new wave of “menstrual surveillance” is leaving women’s private lives susceptible to security risks and to be taken advantage of by employers. “People are being asked to do this at a time when they’re incredibly vulnerable and may not have any sense where that data is being passed,” Cornell Professor Karen Levy said. Ovia chief executive Paris Wallace defended the data sharing and told the newspaper the data plays a vital role in helping the well-being of women while improving the bottom line of companies.
