The team behind a popular period tracking app has confirmed that they will not share user information with authorities following the re-election of Donald Trump.
In a statement published Nov. 7, the app's CEO, Rhiannon White, expressed her team's belief that health data should never be weaponized against individuals, and reassured users that she would not allow Clue to become a tool for such measures.
You deserve to be able to confidently keep a health record and trust that it will serve you, and never be used against you.
— Clue (@clue) November 7, 2024
And that is exactly our promise to you. Now and always.
With solidarity from Berlin,
The Clue Team pic.twitter.com/Jz12ukEYcf
"Clue was created to give you the ability to build your own cycle health record and to be able to use it to gain invaluable insights to help give you agency when it comes to your menstrual and reproductive health," White wrote. "With Clue, you have the ability to better understand what's going on inside your body. It turns your data into a resource. One that can help you discover and anticipate patterns, identify changes, make informed decisions, and in some cases, even save your life."
"It's why we so firmly believe that as women and people with cycles, our health data must serve us and never be used against us or for anyone else's agenda," she continued.
White said that Clue takes the responsibility of protecting user data "extremely seriously, because everyone should be able to confidently keep a health record and trust that it will always be kept safe and secure."
Last year, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin blocked a bill that would have prevented law enforcement officials from seeking data about menstrual histories from women in Virginia, as reported by the Washington Post. The bill had passed in the state Senate, even garnering the support of half of the chamber's Republican members.
"While the administration understands the importance of individuals' privacy ... this bill would be the very first of its kind that I'm aware of, in Virginia or anywhere, that would set a limit on what search warrants can do," Maggie Cleary, Youngkin's deputy secretary of public safety, told the Post.
The move was opposed by pro-choice activists, who note increasing fears of prosecution amongst women for pursuing reproductive health care following the overturning of Roe vs. Wade in 2022.
"The Youngkin administration's opposition to this commonsense privacy protection measure shows his real intentions, to ban abortion and criminalize patients and medical providers," Tarina Keene, executive director of Repro Rising Virginia, said in a statement to The Guardian.
Clue also previously released a statement following SCOTUS' overturning of the landmark case, reassuring users that their team was committed to their privacy and protection.
"Navigating our reproductive health journey is complex enough, we should never have to wonder whether surveillance of our private patient data could be used to prosecute us," Clue's 2022 statement said.
"Clue is made to empower you on your reproductive health journey. We aren't here to tell anyone what to do, or what to believe—we aren't here to evangelize for any particular life choice. We are here to support people in the full diversity of their own individual menstrual, sexual and reproductive experience, in every way that trustworthy information can," the company continued. "Your tracked health data should serve you. We commit to ensuring that it isn't misused for anyone else's agenda."
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