What the actual fuck. How can we trust any third party app ever? I guess we can’t.

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[–] 107 points 6 months ago

A lot of women had stopped using these types of apps ever since the forced birthers overturned Roe, knowing this type of thing could be used against them.

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  • [–] 72 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    Use softwares that are open sourced and be happy. There's plenty of period tracking apps on F-Droid.

    Open sourced softwares can't hide trackers from users since the source code must be up-to-date. If not, people will be suspicious. And if a open sourced software do use trackers, the community will complain... a lot!

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 child)

    Just checked out both drip and Bluemoon, both FOSS from F-Droid with local only data

    Bluemoon lets you import data from Flo, but to export data from Flo, you need to make an account with Flo, it seems. (It also let's you import data from Clue, but I don't use Clue.)

    drip lets you import data just from a CSV file, nothing that seems specific to any app format. So far I like drip a lot better, TBH; the UI is more intuitive to me, and it seems more featureful. Its prediction also lines up with Flo after putting in data since January.

    However, I have just downloaded both apps. My plan is to keep Flo around for one more cycle while I compare it to the others, then kick Flo to the curb for becoming enshittified spyware, with sad nostalgia for the life-changing product it originally was to me.

    Right now, I am not seeing luteal vs. follicular phase estimated with just period data on either, though, which is annoying. I want a rough sense for the purposes of some tailored nutritional stuff, but I'm not looking to get pregnant or anything and really do not wish to bother with the trouble of taking daily temperatures. Flo currently gives me that. I know it's basically just adding 15 days but I still like having the at a glance feature.

    EDIT: Adding Mensinator, another FOSS one on F-Droid, to the trial. Looks like this one offers an import feature, but I have no idea what format it's expecting, because it couldn't find my export from Bluemoon. Mensinator does provide the option to just mark a day as ovulation, which neither Bluemoon nor drip offer. It does at least seem like drip tells you if you're in the first or second half of your cycle on the individual day profile for the day of, but I want something I can use for meal planning. Mensinator may be the best suited for me so far, but I will give them all time.

    Also, bafflingly, when I attempted to export my data from drip, it provided me a "share file" option to share the .csv file without a simple option to just...download it.

    EDIT 2: Now that I've had some periods to trial this out, Mensinator is my personal winner. Easy enough to use, good predictions, and predicts ovulation without having to do daily measurements. Feel free to play around with options yourself to find which suits you best, though.

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  • [+] 5 points 6 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    I agree but most open-source software will not add any trackers because even if they did someone will fork and remove them also lot of open-source apps like this won't even have internet access to sell your data

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    even if they did someone will fork and remove them

    Ayup, hopefully. But there's a cultural aspect to that IMO. For that to work, we need enough people invested in doing that. Which can be hard and ongoing work! Say I fork an app. Unless I want to "hostile take over" the whole devel, now I've got to keep rolling in updates. Sometimes those can interact with the changes I made in my fork and automated merges don't handle it. It can be thankless work.

    We're lucky at the mo, with OSS. It's a tech heavy crowd. That helps a LOT to keep the culture from enshittifying. There's a lot of good faith volunteering around. But that's a fragile thing.

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  • [–] 29 points 6 months ago

    We can't trust any of them. They'll sell it to the government for those pregnancy lists too, to combat abortion.

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  • [–] 24 points 6 months ago

    The lying the app did in their priv policy is shitty behavior. But not unusual behavior.

    The phone app ecosystem is a hot mess of treachery.

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  • [–] 22 points 6 months ago

    And this where I as a trolling CIS male might be able to do some good

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  • [–] 52 points 6 months ago

    I love fucking up their data.

    Haha, bitches I had no ovaries to begin with, and now you think I'm ovulating soon!

    Mwahahaha :3

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  • [–] 17 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    Is there anything FOSS like this?

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  • [–] 37 points 6 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago*

    I use Drip for basic cycle tracking. I don't use it for fertile phase tracking so no comment there.

    For cycle tracking, it does what it needs to do. It's easy enough to setup and completely forget what tracker/spyware I used to use. Heck, I think it was Flo I used to use.

    And f-droid or another alternative app stores not mandatory, Drip is on the Google Play store at least. Not sure about Apple.

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago

    "What are you feeling today?"

    "egg white"

    "c r e a m y"

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago

    so the pentagon has it

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago

    Because of course they would sell this data, fuck all these people

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago

    That makes me feel creamy....

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    Poison the data. It's time for all you men to go log your manstrual cycle.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    The idea of putting this info on my phone has always seemed bonkers to me. Just keep a journal of it, on paper, if this is so critical for you to know for some reason. My daughter used to use one but she deleted it as soon as the Roe v Wade stuff happened, she had no reason to be using it anyway

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  • [–] 32 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    The idea that putting this on your phone is bonkers is bonkers to me. Why would you want to carry around a journal or paper when you have everything on your phone? It can also be more easily backed up and synced.

    It shouldn't be normal that this data is stolen and sold. That is 100% the problem, not the fact that people track things on computers.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    It shouldn't be normal that this data is stolen and sold. That is 100% the problem, not the fact that people track things on computers.

    it shouldn't be, but that's the world we live in. we can't change it anymore.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    and now they know about you lot what you not)))))))

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  • 28 comments in c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se view that post
    [–] 33 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    This is why I have a period tracker app despite being a non-menstruator so they get bad data.

    I’m currently dealing with infertility and perimenopause.

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  • [+] 27 points 6 months ago (12 children)
  • [+] -7 points 6 months ago (10 children)

    Yes but you don’t know they aren’t doing the same thing.

    What we need are apps that use your own cloud data and are prevented from making network connections outside of that by the OS

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  • [–] 8 points 6 months ago (9 children)

    I mean, you kinda do because F-Droid maintainers check for 'anti-features' like that before approving each app to be added to the repository. That's the big benefit of it over something like Obtainium.

    I haven't checked myself, but I think it's very likely that there's at least one period-tracking app on F-Droid that doesn't require network permission at all.

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  • [+] -7 points 6 months ago (8 children)

    If the data goes to their cloud, fdroid can’t check for anything.

    If the app makes network connections…. You need to assume anything it can access on your phone is shared with a malicious third party.

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  • [–] 8 points 6 months ago* (7 children)

    Why do you keep talking about cloud shit? What part of "[they probably don't] require network permission at all" did you not understand?

    In fact, if some app's data did "[go] to their cloud," F-Droid would slap a big fat anti-feature warning label on it saying "this app promotes or depends entirely on a non-free network service" and not put an install button in the list in the search results, forcing you to go through an extra step if you still wanted to install it!

    I don't know why you're trying to fearmonger so hard when F-Droid really does everything it can to protect you from shit like this, short of actively restricting you itself.

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  • [+] -8 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    Oh boy… You don’t know what “cloud” means.

    If an app stores info on their servers, they have access to it. This isn’t something only big tech does. Any app may store user account information, general app data, etc. if you can use it on your desktop and you can use it on your phone… guess where that data is…. ☁️ 🧠

    As I said above, what we need are more apps allowing the use of private data storage. Your own “cloud” (server). And then an OS level block of all network connections besides that single source.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    What part of "no network" you do not understand? There's no cloud in Drip, the one mentioned. Not from a company, not your own. It doesn't even have the network connectivity.

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  • [+] -8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    I mean in general. Not focusing on the specific app.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    You started three chain of replies on a comment in favor of a specific app, Drip.

    Then double down being condescending on your lack of understanding.

    So understand people aren't engaging positively with you.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago* (1 child)

    As I said above, what we need are more apps allowing the use of private data storage. Your own “cloud” (server).

    Right. And F-Droid actively encourages exactly that by calling it an "anti-feature" whenever an app connects to a network service but fails to work with the service of your choosing.

    I'm literally telling you about the thing that addresses your exact concern, and yet you're nonsensically bitching that I'm somehow the one who doesn't know what I'm talking about? What the fuck is wrong with you?

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    What the fuck!! What the actual fuck!!!!

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  • [–] 11 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    It's really frustrating how people still trust their sensitive personal data to apps like this.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    Yeah. Ever since I started tracking mine with an app I specifically looked for one that didn't send my data anywhere. There's no reason to. It's just a fucking private calendar, a list of dates and notes. Why that ever needs to leave your device beats me

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    Can anyone recommend a data secure self hosted option preferably with easy docker compose variables?

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    I'm going to start using 'creamy' to describe how I'm feeling.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    Reminds me of that Derrick Comedy sketch with Donald Glover about mercury poisoning. "How are you feeling?" "SLIIIIImy"

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    I'm not in this race, but wouldn't it make more sense at this late stage, to simply not use any a phone apps whatsoever anymore? For this?

    Big Evil Tech is going to take everything from us. Why would any educated people still use a period-tracking app? I'm sure going back to pre-cellphone, pen & paper calculations would be better?

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  • [–] 12 points 6 months ago

    We shouldn't have to go back to pen & paper to avoid big tech; that's an absurd overreaction to the point of almost coming across as a strawman argument. We should expect to have privacy-respecting alternatives (e.g. from F-Droid, as others in the thread are mentioning) available, as well as effective consumer protection laws.

    The solution is not to just give up; the solution is to force the world to get better.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    Sadly despite all the bad news over this most regular users don't give a shit and like the convenience.

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  • 8 comments in c/privacy@programming.dev view that post
    [–] 18 points 6 months ago

    Drip is open source and fully local!

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  • [–] 19 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    NGL here... anything personal like apointments and health issues you gotta keep in an actual wall calendar in your home. Given how the tech companies are all data happy - if it's tied to an app on a computer or phone or whetever - it's a given that what info you record WILL be mined.

    Personal privacy starts at the point where you keep your shit non-digitally.

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago* (3 children)

    keep in an actual wall calendar in your home.

    There's no need to go so primitive in response; just stick to offline FOSS apps that individuals made with no Internet permissions. F-Droid/Droid-ify has multiple offline period trackers.

    ... Wait, you are on Linux, right?

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago* (2 children)

    Naah. I'm running ancient hardware at this time.. My main home machine is a MacPro3,1 from 2008 - and running an unsupported install of macOS (I'm typing on a literal dumpster dive 2010 MacBook pro also running an unsupported macOS install) and faffing around with getting my gaming PC (a former hackintosh from 2014) set to run Bazzite - but all my hardware's ancient (I have ONE newer piece of hardwre to my name - a GTX 3060 and that is it.) so most of my plans are on hold.

    For the macOS, I'm in the "security through obscurity" hole right now.. (I do have Little Snitch and the firewall called Lulu running and tons of privacy tools in my browsers) and the PC only has Steam, GOG and Epic accounts on it.. Not even an email.

    I'm not earning shit at this time, so am somewhat limping along with the old kit I have. Got no budget for new hardware.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    But... that... that's one of the primary selling points of Linux (which is free, as you know): working marvelously on old hardware. You can even install entirely with no desktop if you're an expert in the terminal...

    Well, you're very obviously knowledgeable about what you're doing, so carry on. I just think we don't have to be Amish with private information as long as we're aware of what we're using to access it.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    It's not so much being amish as it is choosing, with a bit of circumspection, what to digitize and what not to. That wall calendar is 100% resistant to hacking and most people today won't even look twice at one if they're in a house.

    More security through obscurity, in a way..

    But I totally get the hardware/linux angle. My issue is hardware just starting to wear out. Got 2 PCI slots on the Mac already with dry solder joints and I just need to take a week and rip it all apart and reflow them all.. I just don't have the energy or focus, what with work.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago