Flo’s Anonymous Mode goes live in a bid to improve data security for millions of users

The women’s health tracking app Flo has released its Anonymous Mode feature in an effort to further protect sensitive reproductive health information post Roe v Wade.

The new Anonymous Mode will allow users the option to access the app without name, email address, and technical identifiers from being associated with the health data in their Anonymous Mode account.

The feature makes Flo the first female health app to take this level of precaution in terms of privacy and security after experts expressed concerns over data protection following the US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade.

Flo has partnered with Cloudflare to integrate an Oblivious HTTP system, App Relay Gateway, which ensures that no single party processing user data for Anonymous Mode accounts has complete information on both who the user is and what they are trying to access.

The app aims to build a better future for female health and provide its 48 million active users with information, including effective contraceptive methods and sexual health.

The company says users should feel empowered to access medically credible information to help them make informed decisions about their health without anxiety or concern.

Flo has previously added encryption of all data and passcode protection to reduce the risk that unauthorised users access the app on their personal device.

With the Anonymous Mode, the company seeks to ensure privacy on various levels, from logged symptoms on the device through the data transfer over the network to the server side, allowing users to track their health with as much privacy as possible. In effect, the user would leave significantly reduced digital footprints when communicating with Flo.

“Women’s health information shouldn’t be a liability,” said Cath Everett, VP of product and content at Flo.

“Every day, our users turn to Flo to gain personal insights about their bodies. Now, more than ever, women deserve to access, track, and gain insight into their personal health information without fearing government prosecution.

“We hope this milestone will set an example for the industry and inspire companies to raise the bar when it comes to privacy and security principles.”

Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO, Cloudflare, said: “Recent legislation around women’s health has made internet privacy a renewed concern with real-world consequences for many people.

“Cloudflare’s App Relay system, based on a privacy-preserving standard championed by Cloudflare, will help Flo’s Anonymous Mode set a new expectation for how companies can protect their users’ health data.”