Clue, Eve, Flo, Dot, Ovia, Cycles.
If you are a man, there is a good chance you have never heard of these before. If you are a woman, there is a better chance you’ve read about them — if you use a menstrual app, you might have tracked the last three years’ worth of blood flow, cervical fluid appearance, dates of sexual intercourse, birth control use, cramps, acne, sore breasts, smoking, exercise or more. Women want the benefits these modern charting tools offer — but as the Washington Post reports, they’ve also found creative ways to make deeply personal data meaningless to the corporations capturing and sharing that data (including insurance companies paying for it). Anecdotally, respondents seem especially resistant to requests for early health data on newborns, including weight and birth date.
IN OTHER NEWS: Recipients of food stamps can now use benefits to buy groceries online in New York — potentially benefiting recipients living in “food desert” neighborhoods — and the USDA is eyeing an expansion to other states, including Iowa (CNN); Venture capital is putting its money into astrology apps (NEW YORK TIMES). Have a laugh — you never know what Co-Star will tell you (REDUCTRESS).