Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Pro-Choice Activist Warns Why Now Is The Time To Delete Your Period-Tracking App In Eye-Opening Thread

Pro-Choice Activist Warns Why Now Is The Time To Delete Your Period-Tracking App In Eye-Opening Thread
Annette Riedl/Getty Images

After a leaked Supreme Court majority opinion draft on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization indicated their intention to overturn 1973's Roe v. Wade SCOTUS ruling, the country has been preparing for a drastic changes in reproductive rights.

Several red states already vowed to limit access to contraception if the SCOTUS draft ruling stands.


A viral thread is now drawing attention to the way people are using apps to track their menstrual cycles, holding out these apps can be evidence used against them once the draft opinion is finalized and officially released, removing all federal protections for reproductive rights.

Twitter user Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (@ECMcLaughlin) posted these apps—though useful for many in monitoring their cycles and determining fertility and pregnancy status—ought to now be deleted.

She tweeted:

"If you are using an online period tracker or tracking your cycles through your phone, get off it and delete your data."
"Now."

McLaughlin explained the data entered into these apps is discoverable by authorities.

In states where reproductive rights are limited or abortion is outlawed outright, such information could be used to possibly prosecute people.

She wrote:

"Let me make something very clear to everyone in the retweets wondering why."
"Peter Thiel has already sold data tracking the locations of marginalized people to the government ..."
"If you think that your data showing when you last menstruated isn't of interest to those who are about to outlaw abortion, whew do I have a wakeup call for YOU."

She continued:

Combine that with location tracking information and when you last menstruated and where you are seeking healthcare and you have a target on your back ...
And by the way, if you have used Flo, Zuckerberg and Co already have your cycle tracked.

McLaughlin shared a New York Times article which detailed the way the data from these apps is collected by Facebook if they are linked.

The activist further detailed in her thread this is not a new concept. She pointed out the Department of Homeland Security is infamous for tapping into this kind of data to prosecute marginalized groups, specifically immigrants and undocumented residents.

Her message brought a new wave of panic amongst those affected.

One person posted:

"OMG [I] hadn’t thought about that. My teenage daughter!"



Another person looked into their app's terms of service.

The results were not promising.

They tweeted:

"Just checked the app I use and the parent company’s website links to its privacy policies and terms of service are BLANK."


McLaughlin also mentioned where data may not be otherwise retrievable, it is always subject to government subpoenas, another reason she suggested people get off these apps immediately amid the up-and-coming reversal of the century.

McLaughlin—a lawyer— was besieged with questions from concerned people who rely on these apps.

One person tweeted at her:

"Closely tracking cycles will never be more important though."
"This may be an asinine question, but could hard copy calendar tracking be subpoenaed?"

Her solution?

Use and then discard the paper calendars.

The thread created a call to action amongst people.

Many fear these precautions are just the beginning for a post-Roe era.

More from Trending

Alex Cooper singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'
@MBDChicago/Twitter (X)

'Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Gets Brutally Booed At Wrigley Field After Painfully Off-Key Singing

If there's one thing that all baseball fans can come together about, it's the importance of their traditions—and songs.

In the seventh inning at Wrigley Field during a match between the Cubs and the Cardinals, popular Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper was invited to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and brought two backup dancers with her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Linda Yaccarino
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

X CEO Resigns Day After AI Chatbot Grok Praised Hitler In Alarming Series Of Antisemitic Tweets

Linda Yaccarino—the former NBC Universal executive who later took the reins at X—stepped down as CEO of billionaire Elon Musk's platform after two years on the job just a day after Grok, the platform's AI chatbot, went on antisemitic rants and openly praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok issued deeply antisemitic responses on Tuesday following a reported software update that encouraged the bot to embrace what developers described as the “politically incorrect.” Taking that directive to heart, Grok responded with a series of disturbing posts that included praise for Hitler and even a statement expressing its aspiration to become a “digital version” of the Nazi leader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Black and white photo of a falling spider.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

People Divulge Their 'Rare' Phobias That People Refuse To Believe

I am a SEVERE claustrophobic.

I have struggled with this issue for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

'The Onion' Rips Ted Cruz With Brutal Headline After Yet Another Vacation During Texas Disaster

The satirical news site The Onion had social media users cackling with its brutal headline mocking Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for once again being out of the country when Texas was hit by another deadly natural disaster.

Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to Cancún while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk and Grimes
Kevin Tachman/Getty Images for Vogue

Elon Musk's Ex Grimes Calls X Platform A 'Poison' And 'Theatre' After Social Media Hiatus

Claire Boucher—who performs and creates under her stage name Grimes, but prefers her birth name or just "C" offstage—recently returned to her musical persona's social media accounts after taking a hiatus for her own well-being.

Once extremely active, she noted on X in April:

Keep ReadingShow less