[2606.26276] Expecting (Targeted Ads)? Network Analysis of User Health Data Leakage in Fertility Tracking Apps

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Computer Science > Cryptography and Security

arXiv:2606.26276 (cs)

[Submitted on 24 Jun 2026 (v1), last revised 26 Jun 2026 (this version, v2)]

Title:Expecting (Targeted Ads)? Network Analysis of User Health Data Leakage in Fertility Tracking Apps

Authors:Yeeun Jo, Shahanaasree Sivakumar, Mahnoor Jameel, Camille Cobb, Adam Bates, Brad Reaves<br>View a PDF of the paper titled Expecting (Targeted Ads)? Network Analysis of User Health Data Leakage in Fertility Tracking Apps, by Yeeun Jo and Shahanaasree Sivakumar and Mahnoor Jameel and Camille Cobb and Adam Bates and Brad Reaves

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Abstract:While human factors in the privacy of fertility tracking apps -- health trackers that record users' menstrual or pregnancy data -- has been the subject of extensive study, little attention has been paid to the technical aspects of apps' data handling practices. We conduct a network-based measurement study of a corpus of 20 Android fertility tracking apps from the Google Play Store, focusing on how user data is shared with third party advertising services. After systematizing app features, we conduct a series of standardized user interactions across all apps in an environment that records TLS-stripped network traffic. In a subset of apps (n=5) we identify explicit leakage of user health data as well implicit leakage through highly targeted contextual advertising URL's. Equally importantly, we observe additional apps that use an ad-based monetization model without apparent leakage of user data, as well as several apps the interact only minimally with ad services. These findings provide technical grounding for widespread user concerns, but also underscore the importance of consumer choice in the privacy implications of app-based fertility tracking.

Subjects:

Cryptography and Security (cs.CR)

Cite as:<br>arXiv:2606.26276 [cs.CR]

(or<br>arXiv:2606.26276v2 [cs.CR] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.26276

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arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

Submission history<br>From: Adam Bates [view email]<br>[v1]<br>Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:17:04 UTC (44 KB)

[v2]<br>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 17:19:00 UTC (34 KB)

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View a PDF of the paper titled Expecting (Targeted Ads)? Network Analysis of User Health Data Leakage in Fertility Tracking Apps, by Yeeun Jo and Shahanaasree Sivakumar and Mahnoor Jameel and Camille Cobb and Adam Bates and Brad Reaves<br>View PDF<br>HTML (experimental)<br>TeX Source

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