Pregnancy App tracking by employers

phoebe828

* if people are not supposed to start conversation starter threads, I apologize in advance! *

I came across a really interesting WashPost article this morning about how employers can partner with Ovia to get aggregated, blinded data from its employees. I found this so interesting and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/10/tracking-your-pregnancy-an-app-may-be-more-public-than-you-think/

phoebe828

My company is small so if they were to do this and I were to opt in, they’d be able to figure out who is who pretty easily. For me, privacy is worth more than the $1/day the woman in the article got. It also gives me some feelings about how much I share with an app that does use this data for all kinds of purposes. On the other hand, seeing aggregated info from all the other women using it helps me figure out what’s normal and how to best plan TTC. 

I’m all over the place, LOL. 

inthewoods23

Stuff like this can go in our monthly randoms thread. Probably okay to just leave the thread as it is. It's at least not a drive by!

I'm totally with you though that I would not want my employer knowing this information. And $1/day? That barely helps cover anything....

marebear15

I read the whole thing thoroughly, and it seems like it's a special version of the app offered by your employer. So you know you are agreeing to it, when you opt in. So at least your employer isn't doing it behind your back. Also, it said that your employer has to have enough employees signed up and using it before they release aggregated data (probably so you can't *easily* identify people). 

But all this stuff about it helping people get pregnant, not have baby NICU stays, and fewer c-sections, I don't think an app can help with that. So I really don't see the point in my employer having all this info.

phoebe828

@marebear15 I missed the part about needing a certain number of people before they release the data and that does make sense. I still wouldn’t sign up for $1/day. 

I don’t see at all how a tracking app could prevent a csec. And I think the “helping women conceive” thing has a lot to do with women who are generally motivated enough to track so much stuff every month. It might take a woman longer who has no idea where she is in her cycle, compared with a woman who is tracking it and knows her most fertile times. That would be true irrespective of an app she happens to be using to do the tracking. 

marebear15

@phoebe828 - I understand what you are saying. That's actually a big annoyance of mine, when apps or devices claim they help women get pregnant. Most of the time, if a woman decided to start using OPKs, she'll download an app to track those. So really it's the OPK that's helping a woman. If a woman buys a Tempdrop or the Ava, the majority of the time it's the first time they've ever temped, or temped correctly. So it's not really the device or app, it's the temping. 
Splitting hairs I guess, but that's what goes through my head every time I see those ads. Especially for Ava, it says "will help you get pregnant twice as soon." I just tell myself that I already know when I ovulate and I always have good timing, so that's not my issue, and it can't help me.

dpchickens

marebear15  Agreed. Also, the new Ava ads I've seen on FB with their 1-year guarantee of becoming PG just piss me off...
https://support.avawomen.com/en/support/solutions/articles/15000015147-what-is-the-1-year-guarantee-of-pregnancy-

marebear15

@dpchickens - From a business perspective, it's a good deal because fewer than 10% of users would not be pregnant at the end of 12 months, and how many of them would have done all the requirements? But from an ethical standpoint, they are preying on the emotions of women who have failed several or more cycles!

dpchickens

marebear15 Exactly!  Because they never say 'healthy' child/pregnancy. Also, there's a misconception that once a woman decides to start a family, she just pops out her IUD or whatever BC method she's using or just starts DTD without protection, and within a month or two, BAM pregnancy!  Followed by a totally normal and healthy 9 months and healthy living child.  *sigh*
I just find it to be very predatory and misleading.  SO much can go wrong, and they're just baiting people into a 'YOU will have a happy, healthy, positive outcome with this OF COURSE."