Her Data, Her Choice: A Comprehensive Look at Femtech Privacy Concerns

The land of the free? Americans today feel that they have very little, or even no control over their data being collected by private companies and the government. A huge majority of Americans are also concerned about how the data collected is being used. Women are—and should be—especially wary of the data they share, particularly when it comes to menstrual data. With the recent Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, data protection has never been more important to preserving reproductive access for women across the country. This decision ended the constitutional right to an abortion and left the states to make their own policies regarding reproductive health. Now that this is the case, it is especially important that women’s health data be kept private to avoid prosecution. This Note explores the common uses and avenues by which health data is collected by women, current regulations in place to protect this data, and where policy changes can be made to provide better protection.