Ready to bid farewell to Flo and remove all traces of personal information on the period-tracking app? There are two ways to get these steps done.
Due to the current political climate due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, many women who previously were avid users of period-tracking apps like Flo are now wondering if they should delete their accounts and wipe their personal information off the platform. The historic move to cancel the constitutional right to abortion has now sparked a debate on the level of safety and privacy users can expect in health and fitness apps—especially those designed to track menstrual and pregnancy metrics. Those who cannot find a suitable alternative to their current period-tracking app of choice are now opting to delete their profiles altogether.
As one of the most popular and most downloaded options for period trackers in both the iOS and Android app stores, Flo is rightly being scrutinized for what it is willing to do to protect its massive userbase’s privacy. While it is the norm for health-tracking apps to collect valuable information on the people who spend time on their platforms to improve their overall functionality, many of them have recently come under fire for poor privacy policies. Those who are especially concerned with the often-vague language used in these apps’ guidelines may want to err on the side of caution and stop using them, delete them from their devices and wipe all their info off their platforms.
Users who have reviewed Flo’s privacy policy and still want to go through purging their accounts can request account deactivation through the app. First, go to ‘Menu’ by tapping either the user avatar or the hamburger icon, then select ‘Help.‘ Next, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the ‘Contact us’ button. This will lead to a form that will ask the user to provide an email address (ideally the one associated with the Flo account), a subject, a detailed description of the request and an extra option to attach screenshots. Alternatively, users can also send an email to support@flo.health and request account deactivation and erasure of personal data. According to Flo’s privacy policy, if an account is deactivated, the company will generally delete all personal data in the account and will not be recoverable if a new account is created later on.
More On What Happens With Your Personal Data On The Flo App
It is important to note that simply deleting the Flo app off the device is not enough to get rid of a user’s personal information on the platform. All this does is makes the account inactive while retaining all the associated data in the app’s system for three years in case of account reactivation or app reinstallation. Additionally, certain personal data may be retained after account termination or deletion “as necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.”
Anybody who wishes to exercise their privacy rights may send a message to Flo’s support email address—again, using the email address provided during account registration—and expect a response within 30 days after receipt. In some cases, it may take up to 90 days, such as requests for complete erasure of personal data stored in Flo’s backup systems. If warranted, Flo may require the user to prove their identity.
Many period-tracking app users who wish to keep using them post-Roe v. Wade are clamoring for a safety net within their chosen platform. Those who want to keep using Flo may wait a few more weeks to test an upcoming anonymous feature that lets users take advantage of the app’s benefits without using any personal identifiers. If—after giving the function a whirl—the user then decides to get off Flo completely, they will need to register for an account first through the app’s menu before they can request information deletion. Suppose the user prefers to continue their account and data deletion requests through Flo‘s support email. In that case, they may be asked to “undergo additional verification measures” to ensure that Flo responds appropriately.
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