Frequently asked questions (FAQs). If your questions aren’t answered here, please get in touch with us on info@myperioddataismine.com.
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The period tracker is free AND private! What’s the catch?
We believe that personal data is private and must remain so. We believe you want to feel that your personal data is safe and secure and that you control access to your personal data. We believe that the only way to do this is to ensure that your data never leaves your phone and that the data on your phone is encrypted. Only you can decrypt your data using a passcode that you select and only you know. We will never sell your data, because we will never have access to your data.
We also believe that privacy is a right not a privilege, and everyone should have access to apps that put your privacy first. By making My Period Data Is Mine! free, we ensure that everyone has access to privacy, not just those that can afford it.
We rely on generous donations from you and others that can afford it, to fund the work and cover the costs of providing and maintaining essential privacy to all.
What will we do with the money?
We rely on the generous contributions from you and others to create and maintain the My Period Data Is Mine! app, and we understand that you want to know how the money is and will be spent.
First and foremost, we need to cover our organisation’s yearly running costs. We try to keep these to a minimum, but as the popularity of My Period Data Is Mine! surges we expect these costs to increase. Currently our annual running costs are in the region of $1,000.
Second, we need to pay for the right experts and tools to produce and distribute the best and only fully private, encrypted and free period tracker. Below, we have broken down our expected costs for producing and distributing the first versions of the app:
| What? | Why? | How much? |
| Initial Android version | Create the first version of the app and make it available to everyone ASAP | $45.000 |
| Marketing and getting the word out | Calling people, emailing, spreading the good news that there is a safe period tracker takes time and effort. | $50.000 |
| Produce an iOS version | iOS requires different tools and expertise, which makes it more expensive to produce and maintain | $55.000 |
Why make My Period Data Is Mine! open source?
Going through your period is bad enough without having to worry about what the providers of your period tracking app are actually doing with your data. Going through your period is bad enough without having to worry about whether your period data will remain secure in the future; whether the providers of your period tracking app will change the terms and conditions of using the app. Going through your period is bad enough without having to worry about whether a backdoor has been installed to allow law enforcement to access your data.
Free and open source software allows everyone to see what your app is actually doing. Free and open source software allows experts to confirm that your data is secure, encrypted and never leaves your phone. Free and open source software allows anyone to contribute improvements and features that will benefit all.
Free and open source software remains available, is continually improved and remains supported long after closed source software has stopped being profitable. If you want to know that your data will remain protected for as long as it’s important to you, you will want apps that are open source.
What is in it for you (the MPDIM! team)?
At least 50% of our team menstruate and want a private, encrypted and free period tracker that they can use themselves. We are creating the My Period Data Is Mine! period tracker so that we can use it ourselves.
I (Daniela) currently use a spreadsheet, because there isn’t a single period tracking application that I trust. I use a spreadsheet, because it is private, encrypted and free. However, a spreadsheet just doesn’t provide everything I need. I love technology, and I want to use technology to make my life easier. BUT, none of the currently available apps are private, encrypted and free. None of the currently available apps make me feel that my data safe and will remain that way.
Most apps send my data into the cloud. Even if they say the data is encrypted, if my data is in the cloud it is no longer private, because I no longer control who has access to it. Some apps keep my data on the phone, but they are not encrypting the data, so anyone with access to my phone can access my data. Sure, some apps rely on the security provided by the phone, but when it only takes two days for the FBI to access the data on a phone, I want to know that my data is also encrypted. Some apps are open source, and I can confirm that they are either not encrypted or private, or both. Disappointing!
That is why we are creating the My Period Data Is Mine! period tracker. We want a period tracker that we want to use. We want to feel that our personal data is private. We want to take positive action towards a world that we want to life in.
Who is “Personal Data Ltd”?
Personal Data Ltd. is an organisation that aims to improve the world project by project. The people behind Personal Data Ltd. are the same small team behind My Period Data Is Mine! and other projects. Simply put, Personal Data Ltd. is the legal entity that is delivering My Period Data Is Mine!. We need a legal entity to create, market and receive donations. We are registered in England, United Kingdom under company number 13810942. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us on info@myperioddataismine.com.
How can I contribute?
Become a member on Patreon or be a generous one-time donor and tell us what features you want to see in the MPDIM! period tracker.
Log issues, request features or contribute to the code on GitHub.
Tell everyone you know about My Period Data Is Mine! and how they can contribute.
Together we will make a private, encrypted and free period tracking app that everyone wants to use.