Do period trackers sell your data?

A plain-English guide

Some do, some don't, and many sit in a gray area where data is "shared" with partners and vendors rather than "sold" outright. The honest answer is that you usually can't tell from inside the app — so it helps to understand how these apps make money and what regulators have already found.

How a "free" period tracker makes money

If you're not paying for an app, the revenue has to come from somewhere. For free trackers, it's usually some mix of: advertising, a paid subscription tier, and data — your activity and profile feeding analytics and advertising systems through third-party SDKs embedded in the app. Health data is especially valuable, which is exactly why it deserves scrutiny.

What regulators have found

This isn't hypothetical. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has taken action against multiple health apps:

Flo (2021): the FTC announced a settlement over allegations Flo shared users' health data with third parties like Facebook and Google despite privacy promises.
GoodRx (2023) and Premom (2023): the FTC brought actions over alleged sharing of health data with advertising platforms, using its Health Breach Notification Rule.
BetterHelp (2023): a settlement over alleged sharing of sensitive mental-health data for advertising.

The pattern is clear enough that in 2024 the FTC strengthened the Health Breach Notification Rule specifically to cover consumer health apps.

How to tell if your period app shares data

Read the privacy policy for words like "share," "partners," "vendors," "advertising," or "analytics."
Check whether the app requires an account — a server-side profile is a prerequisite for most sharing.
Be skeptical of "free" — ask what funds it.
Look at the App Store privacy label ("Data Used to Track You" / "Data Linked to You").

The only app that can't sell your data

An app that has no servers and makes no network connections has nothing to sell, share, or leak — by construction. That's the idea behind Hoo-Ha: it's 100% offline, has no account, contains no analytics or ad SDKs, and is funded by a simple one-time purchase rather than your data.

Short answer: many do, at least indirectly. The only way to be certain yours doesn't is to use a tracker that physically can't send your data anywhere.

See how Hoo-Ha works

This article is general information, not legal advice. Company practices change; check each app's current privacy policy. Named companies and platforms are trademarks of their respective owners.