The article doesn't define what exactly they mean by "risks women safety".
I don't buy into the idea that all or any advertising is a "safety" issue if that is where they're going. I think there's a very weird type of patronizing that goes on where suddenly we fear for everyone's ability to deal with advertising as if they've got no self control or agency ...
A state like Texas being able to track a woman’s period means they will know when she becomes pregnant or ceases to be pregnant. That’s potential evidence of a felony in Texas. You connect the dots from there.
I don't buy into the idea that ANY possible evidence is a legitimate risk for being prosecuted when it would take a GREAT deal more than that to get to that point.
Would flight info, rental car data, etc also contribute?
Emails saved ...
A great deal more like for example a private cause of action bounty program and a clear & established commitment to using technological surveillance to pursue and punish people who have had abortions?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Heartbeat_Act
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/te...
Why wouldn’t email, flight info, rental car data, etc. also be contributing? You’re aware of course that some states make traveling to get an abortion a crime? Idaho specifically?
You’re bandying about ideas when the people pushing this crap want a return to chattel slavery.
Third paragraph:
"The report’s authors caution that cycle tracking app (CTA) data in the wrong hands could result in risks to job prospects, workplace monitoring, health insurance discrimination and cyberstalking – and limit access to abortion."
If you want to trace the claims to their sources, you can read the full report from MCTD Cambridge here: https://www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/The-High-S...
It's not a secret that women of fertile age have periods.
How knowing the specific days could add all those risks is hard to see.
I get why it's icky from a privacy standpoint.
One hypothetical vector is that you can find out which women aren't menstruating normally, meaning they could be pregnant. If that information makes it into the hands of employers or even recruitment platforms that can manifest as discrimination. Typically, women have to be incredibly careful not to give employers the impression they might be pregnant or might be trying to be pregnant.
There's also angles of chronic illness, for example, you could maybe find out which women have PCOS or endometriosis and would therefore be more likely to request time off work.
In general, we've worked very hard to make sure employers cannot find out this data, going so far as to make it explicitly illegal to ask, even in a voluntary disclosure context. But data tracking complicates the situation, and if there's enough convolution you can get real-world results without technically breaking the law. For example, consider RealPage, which uses data analytics to facilitate collusion in the renting market. When we introduce algorithms and heuristics into systems like hiring, we might unintentionally be using biases in the data against applicants.
The report has case studies and citations in the section "Individual Harms: Tracking Data used against Users": https://www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/The-High-S...
You can use those to determine the authors' claims and follow their sources to determine whether or not you accept those claims.
The article notes that this data would reveal abortions or miscarriages, and that in some states this information is used as input for criminal prosecution.
Additionally, using implicit hormone levels to adjust the ads that people with menstruations see is uniquely predatory and manipulative. It also serves to "out" trans men when this data can be tied to a profile of someone who as chosen a non-female gender on other online platforms.
Advertising by itself is directly harmful. Its secondary effects on the world are catastrophic. Adding a new layer of "this person is PMSing, let's give them makeup ads because they're feeling insecure" is just evil.
Advertising is what's justified our shiny new 1984 surveillance grid. Advertising is risking all our safety!