Illustrations by Emma Günther
How you can manage your data in Clue
You’re always in control.
At Clue, we have a history of being vocal and clear in our commitments to our community–especially when it comes to protecting your data. We know that the data you track in Clue is probably the most sensitive data you could share with someone. That’s why keeping your data safe is at the core of everything we do.
As a Clue user, because Clue is based in Berlin, Germany, your data is protected by German and European Union (EU) data privacy laws, which are the strictest in the world. But more importantly, it’s protected by our absolute commitment to make sure your health data serves you and is never used against you.
When you use Clue, you are always in control of your health data and what it’s used for. Our goal is to build the Clue app in a way that allows people to safely and confidently track, as well as keep an uncensored health record over time. We believe that the data you track in Clue is precious as well as powerful. It can help us build the world’s largest dataset on the most under-researched, underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed female health conditions, to close the diagnosis gap and move female health research forward.
New design, same data protection
With our newly designed privacy settings, you have more granular control over what types of data you wish to share with Clue. This means that you can now individually choose the different types of data you’d like to share.
We’ve designed the new settings to be as clear, easy to use and customizable as possible, because we believe that you should have even more control of your data.
In the next sections, we’ll explain everything you need to know about different types of data and how it's processed when you use the Clue app.
Why we process your data
You may be wondering why we need to process your data in the first place. Data processing is fundamental for us to provide our service to you as a health tracking app. To put it simply, without it, you wouldn’t be able to use the Clue app.
Here’s a rundown on how it works:
The types of data processing Clue does can be divided into two groups–“core” data processing, and “optional” data processing.
“Core” data processing is when we process types of data which are essential to providing our service. It’s needed for things like creating your Clue account, technically ensuring the stability of the app’s platform so it doesn’t crash, and most importantly processing your health data to give you period predictions and cycle insights. You can’t opt out of this data processing. This was laid out in our Privacy Policy when you first created your Clue account.
“Optional” data processing is when we process types of data which help us advance scientific research, improve the Clue app with new features, and grow the Clue community with better advertising. This type of data processing is optional, and you can select which types you agree to in your app’s privacy settings Whenever your data is processed, stored and analyzed by Clue, it’s always kept safe and secure on our servers in the EU. We strive to be better than industry standards in data protection and follow a number of data security practices. For more details, check out our Privacy Policy.
How to set your data privacy preferences
When you first create your Clue account, you’ll be asked which types of optional data processing you agree to.
If you’d like to change your preferences later on, you can do this at any time in your Settings. Here’s how:
Open your Clue app.
Go to the More Menu, the ‘●●●’ in the top-right corner of your Cycle View.
Tap ‘Settings’.
Tap ‘Privacy settings’.
Use the toggles to set your preferences for the different data processing.
Tap ‘←’ to exit and save your new settings.
For more information on each type of optional data processing, you can learn more in the app and read on below.
Types of optional data processing
There are five types of data processing which fall under Clue’s “optional” data processing. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with each purpose, so you can make the right decision based on what you prefer.
To help advance scientific research
We team up with trusted research partners to advance menstrual and reproductive health research, break harmful taboos and lay the groundwork for better healthcare. To do this, we share health data tracked in the Clue app with researchers to help with their studies. When this data is shared, it’s always de-identified so that all personal identifiers are anonymous to the researchers. You can read more about Clue’s scientific research here.
Giving your consent to this is a unique way to contribute to health research without compromising your data privacy. It helps us close the diagnosis gap and move menstrual and reproductive health research forward.
To improve Clue features with health analytics
This type of data processing helps us better understand what kind of features will be most useful to our user community, based on their varying health goals. Processed internally by Clue data scientists, we look at health data (which is always de-identified, meaning you will remain anonymous) to find patterns and use analytics to identify improvements for the app. The Clue product teams then drive feature development based on these insights.
Giving your consent to this helps Clue build a more valuable app with the kind of features that our community wants and needs for different health goals.
To allow recommendations from Clue
We strive to make the app experience more personalized and meaningful by processing certain usage data and health data to send insights and recommendations that are tailored to a specific user’s needs.
Giving your consent to this means we can send you updates about new features which are relevant to your needs, for example if you’re trying to conceive or want to understand more about your period cramp patterns. It also allows us to suggest interesting products from partnerships which could benefit you. You can read more about our exploration into partnerships here.
Keep in mind if you toggle off this type of data processing, you may still receive other communications from Clue (which fall under “core” data processing or other legal bases). For messaging which includes recommendations about similar Clue products, you have the option to opt out by unsubscribing in emails or contacting us. However, you cannot opt out of service messaging (for example, messages related to your subscription or important technical updates of the app), as those are necessary for us to provide our service to you.
To help promote Clue
The best way for Clue to continue to exist and be a sustainable business is by promoting our app and growing our user base with successful advertising. To understand what kind of Clue advertising works best for us, we process certain usage data and device data to find out what Clue ads users interacted with (if any) and on what platform. This information helps us refine our targeting and reduce wasted spending, something essential for any growing business.
Giving your consent to this means you can help us optimize our advertising efforts, so we can help spread the word about Clue to people that could benefit from tracking. This information also helps us identify whether you’ve already downloaded Clue or have a Clue Plus subscription, so you won’t see Clue ads which aren’t relevant to you. We can assure you that we never share your tracked health data with advertisers.
To technically improve the Clue app
We aim to make your app experience as seamless and technically stable as possible. That’s why we process and analyze certain usage and technical data to improve the app and its technical platform, so features are easier to use and the app can be tailored to different devices. We process this data internally, and it’s always de-identified.
This helps Clue deliver a better app experience for both you and the wider Clue community, as we can improve the technical stability of the app to make sure it’s reliable on all device types. When you created your Clue account and were informed of our Privacy Policy, this meant we could perform such analytics on this usage data based on our legitimate interest as a company to improve the app experience. You can opt out of this processing at any time in your privacy settings.
Why data privacy will always be important to us
We believe that technology and data present a groundbreaking opportunity to empower people to take control of their health. The Clue app gives people the ability to understand what is going on inside of their bodies and minds based on individual tracked health data, providing self-insight and self-advocacy that’s powered by data processing. This is what Clue was founded on, and is what still drives our company forward today.
We also fully acknowledge the responsibility that comes with being the safekeepers of so much intimate data which is tracked by people using Clue. As a female-led company, we understand the struggles that women, girls and anyone with a cycle encounter on their healthcare journey. We know that providing a health tracking app which is secure, private and trustworthy is a must. It will always be our commitment to protect this health data, and to be transparent about how we approach data. You can read more about our commitments to data privacy here.
Some other period tracking apps choose to make anonymous modes so that your identity is concealed. We believe that you shouldn’t hide who you are from your period tracker, but that your identity and data should be kept safe and in your control from the get go.
