“All data accessed by Maya are also essential to the proper functioning of the product. “The Ad SDK helps us earn revenue by displaying ads that our users can opt out of by subscribing to Maya's premium subscription,” the company said in an email to Privacy International and BuzzFeed News. Plackal Tech, which owns Maya, said it does not share any personally identifiable data or medical data with Facebook. We shall be waiting on your confirmation of the erasure.” “Considering that the unauthorized disclosure has already happened, we hereby urge you to erase all the material erroneously obtained without prevarication and delays. “As BuzzFeed has not been the intended recipient of the email, it should have never been shared with BuzzFeed and you as its representative,” the email said. MIA Fem warned BuzzFeed News not to quote anything from its email correspondence on copyright grounds. It later threatened legal action against Privacy International and sent another email to BuzzFeed News, saying, “we hereby urge you to erase all the material erroneously obtained without prevarication and delays. After being subsequently contacted by BuzzFeed News, MIA Fem first asked for a copy of a draft of this article and details about which parts of its response would be quoted. MIA Fem initially sent a detailed statement in response to Privacy International for publication, which Privacy International also shared with BuzzFeed News for this article. And women who are pregnant or seeking to become pregnant are likely to change their shopping habits. That information is also shared with Facebook.Īdvertisers are often interested in people’s moods because it helps them strategically target ads to them at times they might be more likely to buy. It also asks users to enter information about when they’ve had sex and what kind of contraception they used, and also includes a diarylike section for users to write their own notes. The app also shares data users enter about their use of contraception, the analysis found, as well as their moods. “But no, that information is shared with Facebook.” “When Maya asks you to enter how you feel and offers suggestions of symptoms you might have - suggestions like blood pressure, swelling or acne - one would hope this data would be treated with extra care,” the report said. Maya informs Facebook whenever you open the app and starts sharing some data with Facebook even before the user agrees to the app’s privacy policy, Privacy International found.
When a user puts personal information into an app, that information may also be sent by the SDK to Facebook.Īsked about the report, Facebook told BuzzFeed News it had gotten in touch with the apps Privacy International identified to discuss possible violations of its terms of service, including sending prohibited types of sensitive information.
BABY TRACKER APP SHARE WITH PARTNER SOFTWARE
The data sharing with Facebook happens via Facebook’s Software Development Kit (SDK), which helps app developers incorporate particular features and collect user data so Facebook can show them targeted ads, among other functions. They are also available on the App Store. Period Tracker MIA Fem: Ovulation Calculator, owned by Cyprus-based Mobapp Development Limited, says it has more than 2 million users around the world. On the Google Play store, Maya, owned by India-based Plackal Tech, has more than 5 million downloads. Women use such apps for a range of purposes, from tracking their period cycles to maximizing their chances of conceiving a child. UK-based advocacy group Privacy International, sharing its findings exclusively with BuzzFeed News, discovered period-tracking apps including MIA Fem and Maya sent women’s use of contraception, the timings of their monthly periods, symptoms like swelling and cramps, and more, directly to Facebook. Period tracker apps are sending deeply personal information about women’s health and sexual practices to Facebook, new research has found.