Mobile Data Sharing is a Feminist Issue

The world of technology is littered with sexism. It is commonplace to hear about various tech biases against women [8, 12, 13]. Stemming from wider inequality, these can result in alarming persecutory behaviour [1], and should not be ignored. However, I would like to introduce a more concealed technological issue affecting women disproportionately — mobile data sharing. There has been a rise in digital surveillance [11], raising privacy concerns. Many apps share data in the background, often without the user’s knowledge, and the main motivation is money. The more personal the data, the more it is worth [16]. News stories frequently describe the inescapable tracking and privacy-violating behaviours of these apps [4, 5, 10]. This is especially concerning for women.

The rise of mobile data sharing has coincided with a rise in mobile applications designed for women. An example of these are menstrual tracking apps, which allow users to input very personal information. Millions of women are using these apps, which means that they are a gold mine. A recent report by Privacy International explores the extent to which menstruation apps are sharing data with third-parties [6], with scary results. A plethora of mysterious third-parties are receiving data, resulting in potential security risks — where is the data stored and who has access? Moreover, it was found that 61% of 36 apps forward data to Facebook, irrespective of whether the user has an account. Facebook have been under fire for their invasive behaviours [2, 4], and despite previous criticism for buying data from menstrual tracking apps [14], they are hungry for more. These millions of women would not be happy for this information to be shared frivolously — yet they do not realise it is happening.

This brings me to the major privacy pitfall of these apps — lack of transparency. Privacy Inter-national [6] describes these apps as having “inaccessible or opaque privacy policies”. It should be the responsibility of apps to protect their users, especially if they are sharing sensitive information; explicit consent must be provided. It is argued this is done upon install, but this cannot be considered explicit — millions of women wouldn’t agree to share intimate details about their sex lives with Facebook! The GDPR states that without explicit consent, such data sharing is illegal [15],and earlier this year, a pregnancy club app was fined for sharing personal data without explicit user consent [9]. However, this is difficult to prosecute, especially when data is flowing to/from countries with differing privacy laws. But these apps are continuing to share data for profit, they do not have privacy in mind. The law must be enforced.

This data also has the potential to discriminate. A recent news story exposes Ovia [3], an app with millions of users in the US, which allows users to track their pregnancy, mood, medications, sex drive, and more. This personal data is then shared with employers. It is well-known that pregnant women are discriminated against in the workplace [7]. For companies providing healthcare plans, pregnancy is unpredictable and expensive, so the data from this app provides a terrifying opportunity to put jobs at risk.

It is clear that data sharing is a feminist issue. It is critical that sensitive data is protected and not shared with third parties, reducing opportunity for discrimination.

References:

[1] Catherine Bennett. Wife-tracking apps are one sign of Saudi Arabia’s vile regime. others include crucifixion. . . . https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/28/wife-tracking-apps-saudi-arabias-vile-regime-crucifixion, 2019. Last accessed: 11th November 2019.

[2] Samuel Gibbs. Facebook ordered to stop collecting user data by Belgian court. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/16/facebook-ordered-stop-collecting-user-data-fines-belgian-court, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[3] Drew Harwell. Is your pregnancy app sharing your intimate data with your boss? https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/10/tracking-your-pregnancy-an-app-may-be-more-public-than-you-think/?arc404=true, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November2019.

[4] Alex Hern. Facebook admits tracking users and non-users off-site. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/17/facebook-admits-tracking-users-and-non-users-off-site, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[5] Alex Hern.Three quarters of android apps track users with third party tools study. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/28/android-apps-third-party-tracker-google-privacy-security-yale-university, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[6] Privacy International. No body’s business but mine: How menstruation apps are sharing your data. https://www.privacyinternational.org/long-read/3196/no-bodys-business-mine-how-menstruation-apps-are-sharing-your-data, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[7] Natalie Kitroeff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. Pregnancy discrimination is rampant inside America’s biggest companies. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/15/business/pregnancy-discrimination.html ,2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[8] Nicole Kobie. Voice assistants seem to be worse at understanding commands from women. https://institutions.newscientist.com/article/2202071-voice-assistants-seem-to-be-worse-at-understanding-commands-from-women/, 2019. Last accessed: 11th November 2019.

[9] Information Commissioner’s Office. Bounty uk fined £400,000 for sharing personal data unlawfully. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2019/04/bounty-uk-fined-400-000-for-sharing-personal-data-unlawfully/, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[10] Associated Press. ‘tracking every place you go’: Weather channel app accused of selling user data. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/04/weather-channel-app-lawsuit-location-data-selling, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[11] Abbas Razaghpanah, Rishab Nithyanand, Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez, Srikanth Sundaresan, Mark Allman, Christian Kreibich, and Phillipa Gill. Apps, trackers, privacy, and regulators: A global study of the mobile tracking ecosystem. 2018.

[12] Reuters. Amazon ditched AI recruiting tool that favored men for technical jobs. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/10/amazon-hiring-ai-gender-bias-recruiting-engine, 2019. Last accessed: 11th November 2019.

[13] Ian Sample. What is facial recognition — and how sinister is it?https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/29/what-is-facial-recognition-and-how-sinister-is-it, 2019. Last accessed: 11th November 2019.

[14] Sam Schechner and Mark Secada. You give apps sensitive personal information. Then they tell facebook. https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-give-apps-sensitive-personal-information-then-they-tell-facebook-11550851636, 2019. Last accessed: 16th November 2019.

[15] Paul Voigt and Axel Von dem Bussche. The EU general data protection regulation (GDPR). A Practical Guide, 1st Ed., Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017.

[16] Shoshana Zuboff. Big other: surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. Journal of Information Technology, 30(1):75–89, 2015.