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I'm male, and clearly don't know enough about this--are there any benefits for the user that a period tracking app can provide by reaching out to the cloud? I g

I'm male, and clearly don't know enough about this--are there any benefits for the user that a period tracking app can provide by reaching out to the cloud? I guess backing up your data is an obvious one. I thought entering the information is like 90% of the tracking, everything else is mostly calculation/averaging and none of it needs to live on a server. The Euki app seems like my idea of what it would always be.

makeitdouble 3mo ago
Yes, backing up is the most obvious reason to have it live on a server from the user POV. And of course the app vendor will want more lockin and be able to keep the data hostage. Paying for apps doesn't help as much as expected, as they'll want to keep the revenue stream alive. Solving this conundrum would require to deal with both side of the coin. The real solution to this would be to give everyone and their dog a standardised online server with legally enforced privacy, and have sandboxed apps manage data in and out in a interexchangeable format, but I feel like I'm asking for peace on earth. PS: we have banks for money, there should really be something similar for data.
- RajT88 3mo ago
  > PS: we have banks for money, there should really be something similar for data. It's very hard to imagine a government who would have this too far up their list of priorities. Switzerland maybe. Then Germany, France. Maybe. It's hard to imagine it catching on between the monied interests who can influence government and the lack of consumer awareness of the problem it is solving.
- epihelix 3mo ago
  Not quite what you're suggesting, but at least Nextcloud (and other open self-hosting platform) servers are a thing. All you need is for the app to provide the option of saving to local storage – your cloud server software provides a local storage endpoint and does the rest.
- ButlerianJihad 3mo ago
  > PS: we have banks for money, there should really be something similar for data. There is, but the majority of HN participants hate the existing banks with a white-hot passion, and rail against those banks, and prefer to store their cash under their mattress, and their photos in Chad's garage, and they actively discourage everyone else from trusting banks, especially the biggest ones.
  - Terr_ 3mo ago
    I don't think "majority", although the word might describe certain topics/threads that have a bit of selection-bias.
- faangguyindia 3mo ago
  >Yes, backing up is the most obvious reason to have it live on a server from the user POV. And of course the app vendor will want more lockin and be able to keep the data hostage. Android comes with auto backup, https://developer.android.com/identity/data/autobackup https://developer.android.com/identity/data/autobackup App developers choose to collect more data than they need.
- iamacyborg 3mo ago
  > The real solution to this would be to give everyone and their dog a standardised online server with legally enforced privacy, and have sandboxed apps manage data in and out in a interexchangeable format, but I feel like I'm asking for peace on earth. That sounds like Tim Berners-Lee’s Solid project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_(web_decentralization_project) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_(web_decentralization_pr...
  - jMyles 3mo ago
    > I feel like I'm asking for peace on earth. FWIW, this is not an unreasonable ask either.
anigbrowl 3mo ago
If the vendors cared they'd encrypt it client-side and update at regular intervals so that whatever they stored on the servers was unreadable to them. My understanding is that this data isn't covered by HIPAA, which only covers licensed medical providers; you'd think that such personal information would automatically qualify for privacy protections, but [helpless shrug]
faangguyindia 3mo ago
You can collect data without collecting information about who the data belongs to if you only need it to improve your statistical model. That's what we do. We do not know the user's name, phone number, email address, or date of birth. I think it's best to not collect stuff you don't need for your app to work.
drdexebtjl 3mo ago
Sharing with your partner is a big one. Whether you’re trying to have a baby, buying her snacks, or planning beach/pool activities together, it’s very useful.
- mishellaneous 3mo ago
  > Sharing with your partner is a big one. how is that even 10% more convenient than simply speaking? nevermind being worth giving away private data.
  - drdexebtjl 3mo ago
    It just is? I used to get notifications that said something like “$partner is likely to be irritable for the next 2 days”, so I could be extra careful not to piss her off. No way you can get someone to tell you that unprompted. Now, of course I would prefer if that data was end-to-end encrypted.
    - mishellaneous 3mo ago
      > It just is? I used to get notifications that said something like “$partner is likely to be irritable for the next 2 days”, so I could be extra careful not to piss her off. to be clear, you think getting a notification about an incoming period is more convenient than being directly told about it? even considering you'll probably already be speaking to this person during this period (otherwise the notification is pointless)? that barely makes sense even in the strict interpretation where it means that it takes less key presses to enter your period information on an app than typing "i'm on my period" every month (though i doubt you can beat typing "pms"). > No way you can get someone to tell you that unprompted. and you can get people to, connect/sync with you or whatever, on yet another app, made strictly for this purpose, unprompted? > Now, of course I would prefer if that data was end-to-end encrypted. but the important question is the intensity of this preferrence. clearly, it's not as strong as your preferrence for... one key press less per month? how is that saying? if one key press less per month is all it takes for you to give up private information, then i have a bridge to sell to you.
berofeev 3mo ago
I (a male) use it to have my partner's menstrual cycle on my own phone.

makeitdouble 3mo ago

Yes, backing up is the most obvious reason to have it live on a server from the user POV. And of course the app vendor will want more lockin and be able to keep the data hostage. Paying for apps doesn't help as much as expected, as they'll want to keep the revenue stream alive. Solving this conundrum would require to deal with both side of the coin. The real solution to this would be to give everyone and their dog a standardised online server with legally enforced privacy, and have sandboxed apps manage data in and out in a interexchangeable format, but I feel like I'm asking for peace on earth. PS: we have banks for money, there should really be something similar for data.

RajT88 3mo ago
> PS: we have banks for money, there should really be something similar for data. It's very hard to imagine a government who would have this too far up their list of priorities. Switzerland maybe. Then Germany, France. Maybe. It's hard to imagine it catching on between the monied interests who can influence government and the lack of consumer awareness of the problem it is solving.
epihelix 3mo ago
Not quite what you're suggesting, but at least Nextcloud (and other open self-hosting platform) servers are a thing. All you need is for the app to provide the option of saving to local storage – your cloud server software provides a local storage endpoint and does the rest.
ButlerianJihad 3mo ago
> PS: we have banks for money, there should really be something similar for data. There is, but the majority of HN participants hate the existing banks with a white-hot passion, and rail against those banks, and prefer to store their cash under their mattress, and their photos in Chad's garage, and they actively discourage everyone else from trusting banks, especially the biggest ones.
- Terr_ 3mo ago
  I don't think "majority", although the word might describe certain topics/threads that have a bit of selection-bias.
faangguyindia 3mo ago
>Yes, backing up is the most obvious reason to have it live on a server from the user POV. And of course the app vendor will want more lockin and be able to keep the data hostage. Android comes with auto backup, https://developer.android.com/identity/data/autobackup https://developer.android.com/identity/data/autobackup App developers choose to collect more data than they need.
iamacyborg 3mo ago
> The real solution to this would be to give everyone and their dog a standardised online server with legally enforced privacy, and have sandboxed apps manage data in and out in a interexchangeable format, but I feel like I'm asking for peace on earth. That sounds like Tim Berners-Lee’s Solid project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_(web_decentralization_project) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_(web_decentralization_pr...
- jMyles 3mo ago
  > I feel like I'm asking for peace on earth. FWIW, this is not an unreasonable ask either.

anigbrowl 3mo ago

If the vendors cared they'd encrypt it client-side and update at regular intervals so that whatever they stored on the servers was unreadable to them. My understanding is that this data isn't covered by HIPAA, which only covers licensed medical providers; you'd think that such personal information would automatically qualify for privacy protections, but [helpless shrug]

faangguyindia 3mo ago

You can collect data without collecting information about who the data belongs to if you only need it to improve your statistical model. That's what we do. We do not know the user's name, phone number, email address, or date of birth. I think it's best to not collect stuff you don't need for your app to work.

drdexebtjl 3mo ago

Sharing with your partner is a big one. Whether you’re trying to have a baby, buying her snacks, or planning beach/pool activities together, it’s very useful.

mishellaneous 3mo ago
> Sharing with your partner is a big one. how is that even 10% more convenient than simply speaking? nevermind being worth giving away private data.
- drdexebtjl 3mo ago
  It just is? I used to get notifications that said something like “$partner is likely to be irritable for the next 2 days”, so I could be extra careful not to piss her off. No way you can get someone to tell you that unprompted. Now, of course I would prefer if that data was end-to-end encrypted.
  - mishellaneous 3mo ago
    > It just is? I used to get notifications that said something like “$partner is likely to be irritable for the next 2 days”, so I could be extra careful not to piss her off. to be clear, you think getting a notification about an incoming period is more convenient than being directly told about it? even considering you'll probably already be speaking to this person during this period (otherwise the notification is pointless)? that barely makes sense even in the strict interpretation where it means that it takes less key presses to enter your period information on an app than typing "i'm on my period" every month (though i doubt you can beat typing "pms"). > No way you can get someone to tell you that unprompted. and you can get people to, connect/sync with you or whatever, on yet another app, made strictly for this purpose, unprompted? > Now, of course I would prefer if that data was end-to-end encrypted. but the important question is the intensity of this preferrence. clearly, it's not as strong as your preferrence for... one key press less per month? how is that saying? if one key press less per month is all it takes for you to give up private information, then i have a bridge to sell to you.

berofeev 3mo ago

I (a male) use it to have my partner's menstrual cycle on my own phone.