Police in the United Kingdom are using data from period tracking apps and mass spectrometry tests conducted on blood, placenta, and urine to investigate patients who have had “unexplained” miscarriages.

Though abortion is legal in the UK, there are TRAP laws in place requiring certain conditions to be met first, paramount of which is that two separate doctors need to agree that the patient meets the criteria of the 1967 Abortion Act before any treatment can go ahead. Self-managed abortion is a criminal offense with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in the UK, as is any abortion performed after the pregnancy has progressed passed 23 weeks and six days, unless the patient is at risk of serious physical harm or death, or the fetus has severe developmental anomalies.

  • cryptosporidium140@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    What if you “tell” the app you’re pregnant when you’re not, give it false data, and then have some other way to prove you were never pregnant… Then wait for them to arrest you so you can publicly shame them for spying. Is it illegal to lie to apps? Say you were doing an unrelated science experiment and wanted to utilize the features that period tracking apps already have

      • sailingbythelee@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I suspect there is plenty of data poisoning software development. However, most of it is private development for use in the lucrative business of click farming.

        The World Federation of Advertisers estimates that ad fraud (which is data poisoning with extra steps) accounts for 10-30% of clicks, globally.

      • theneverfox@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        Data poisoning is part of my moral system. If a company asks me a personal question, I give them a slightly incorrect answer

        I’ve been doing it since I started using the Internet, and it pays off. My information is all scrambled… It’s still out there since it’s all been leaked, but it’s enough to make it hard to process my info

    • DevCat@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I am a CIS male and run the Flo app just to mess with their stats and tracking. You wouldn’t believe how often my period is off!

      • sbexpert@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’ve never used an app to track, but as a teen my periods were so inconsistent that they would probably think I was pregnant and miscarrying every 3 months. There were times I didn’t bleed for 3 months then bled for 2, for years. This led me to starting birth control years before I ever had sex for the first time. I definitely would have been on some watchlist if that took place today.

        Luckily, after years of trying to stop birth control (and going right back into that weird bleeding cycle every time! >:[ wtf body) my new doctor agreed to do a hysterectomy! It was just recently done, so I’m still recovering, but I’m so fucking happy I never have to deal with periods and bc pills ever again!

        Sorry for the novel lol

        • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          Congratulations! I’m wicked happy for you, Internet Stranger :) and hope you a smooth recovery.

      • SARGEx117@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Same! I had a pregnancy scare a few weeks ago, but I’m back on my period again with my nonexistent uterus. Phew.

        • averagedrunk@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          I bled 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21st of October. I plan on doing it backwards this month. My cup and non-existent uterus runneth over. I’m thinking of having a pregnancy scare next month sometime, just in time for the holidays.