In recent months, we have been exposed to a surge in AI-driven content, a development that may be difficult to fully grasp given its profound and disruptive potential.

femtech

In this column, I share my perspective on one facet of technological innovation that impacts feminine well-being, contraception and family planning: the rise of Femtech, with a focus on period tracking apps.

It’s important to state that I love the genius behind technology and generative AI, however I advocate for mindful consumption and implementation.

Leveraging digital tools to reduce certain tasks so that we can spend more time doing the things we find more fulfilling is just great. As a parent, I want to free up time in my demanding schedule.

But I’m not sure I can justify handing over elements of my personal health, well-being and anxiety levels to the digital world, to algorithms and predictions along with millions of other individuals logging personal information, which is what period tracking apps are doing.

For women that are exploring fertility-awareness methods as they push back against the pill as the default method of birth control, period and fertility tracking is extremely useful. This comes with significant relevance to the recent ‘mix-up’ of contraceptive pills which had to be recalled, in South Africa.

I know, period tracking is helpful for a number of reasons, such as discussing your menstrual history with a doctor, family planning, estimating your due date if you’re pregnant or helping inform any diagnosis. But I question the reliance on an app to dictate, estimate and make assumptions of a woman’s natural bodily rhythm.

I recently conducted a survey to understand if my online audience uses a period tracking app and to gauge which app is most popular. Approximately 92% of respondents said they use a period tracking app of which 52% use the Flo app here in South Africa, and 13% use the period tracker app. Only 3% don’t use an app to track their period at all.

An overall gap and lagging investment in women’s health care has certainly fueled a boom in Femtech, and mobile apps such as Flo health are leaders in the industry.

But privacy experts have warned against sharing personal information that can be sold and is being sold to third parties. Period trackers require users to enter significant personal data, including period dates, sexual activity, emotional states, physical symptoms such as bloating or cramps and manipulate the data to form blanket predictions and reasoning when it comes to women’s health.

Most apps market themselves as empowering women, enhancing self-knowledge to take control of their health. Many even claim to fill the gap in women’s health research.

But if the app’s prediction is wrong, women tend to doubt their own body rather than question the app’s accuracy, causing most women to feel stressed, anxious, disrupting their body’s natural rhythm overall. Still trust your app to point out your fertile window and tell you if your cycle is normal?

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Benefits of period tracking include;

  • Helping you to understand your unique cycle and menstrual patterns
  • You’ll have an idea of when you ovulate, bearing in mind peak fertility varies even if you have predictable cycles
  • It may increase your awareness of overall health, wellness and diet
  • You may be able to manage your mood, sex drive and emotional wellbeing

Femtech is a largely profitable industry, collecting personal information on a global scale through apps such as period trackers. Most companies behind these apps may not be bound by medical legislation and the same confidentiality as agreed upon with a medical practitioner.

With this mind, are we unconsciously feeding power-hungry tech giants information to manipulate feminine health in a way that serves their capitalist agenda?

While I may have bought into the allure of productivity by using mobile planners and journal apps to attain certain milestones and measure self-growth and development, I’m not on board with advancements in Femtech to estimate and predict the intricate and intimate details of feminine health and well-being.