Women using period tracking apps given fresh warning as police in UK given power to seize phones to check them

Following the announcement that UK police can now trawl through women's period tracking apps for 'evidence' of illegal abortions, experts have issued a warning about what other data could be at risk.

For those who haven't yet caught wind of the somewhat dystopian news, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) put new guidance into place last month that gives officers investigating causes of stillbirths, miscarriages and unexpected pregnancy losses their new power.

Not only can women's houses be searched for abortion drugs as per the new regulation, but police can now demand to see an individual's mobile phone in cases 'where there is credible information to suggest criminal activity'.

A spokesperson for the NPCC also insisted that the new protocol is to 'establish a woman’s knowledge and intention in relation to the pregnancy', being that abortion remains a criminal offence unless carried out under specific legal circumstances in England and Wales.

Women's houses can also be raided (Getty Stock Images)

"Police do not routinely investigate unexpected pregnancy loss," said representative continued.

"We recognise how traumatic the experience of losing a child is, with many complexities involved, and any investigation of this nature and individuals will always be treated with the utmost sensitivity and compassion."

Despite the council's 'assurance', the founders of several period tracking apps have since voiced their outrage.

Rhiannon White, CEO of Clue, told press: "We have never - and will never - share health data with authorities. We will aggressively challenge any such requests and will never allow our members' data to be used against them."

Sue Khan, Flo's VP, also insisted they'd be protesting against the new guidance, adding: "Women deserve to be able to use technology to learn more about their bodies and their personal health, without fearing their data will be unjustly used or taken in a way they have not agreed upon."

Period apps can now be checked by police (Getty Stock Image)

However, the guidance has since triggered a concern in millions of British women who've been left wondering which other forms of data could be accessed by the authorities.

With this in mind, several experts have issued a warning about the 'frightening privacy and safety risks' that could come into play in the coming years, with a specific reference to apps containing info on exercise, diet, medication, sexual preferences, hormone levels and contraception use.

Academics from the University of Cambridge believe such personal data is at risk of being 'sold at scale', as per Sky News.

A recent report by the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, meanwhile, stated that menstrual data and technological insights into women's health and hormones are 'gold mines' for consumer profiling.

The lead author on the study, Dr Stefanie Felsberger, told press this week: "There are real and frightening privacy and safety risks to women as a result of the commodification of the data collected by cycle tracking app companies."

The apps will reportedly only be checked in cases 'where there is credible information to suggest criminal activity' (Getty Stock Image)

Explaining their rationale, researchers say that a huge proportion of women downloading these hormone apps do so whilst they're trying to get pregnant. This phase itself leads to a shift in shopping behaviour, they add.

"Data on who is pregnant, and who wants to be, has therefore emerged as some of the most sought-after information in digital advertising."

The study also described period cracking apps as lucrative businesses, being that 'they provide the companies behind the apps with access to extremely valuable and fine-grained user data'.

The group of authors continued: "CTA data is not only commercially valuable and shared with an inextricable net of third parties (thereby making intimate user information exploitable for targeted advertising), but it also poses severe security risks for users."

If such data falls into the wrong hands, they add that this could result in health insurance 'discrimination', as well as a risk to job prospects, or possible domestic abuse.