--- title: "The Dutch privacy watchdog warns about period apps: what is going on (and what to check yourself)" description: "The Dutch Data Protection Authority urges caution with period apps and does not rule out an investigation. What exactly did the regulator say, why now, and how do you check your own app in five minutes?" url: https://myperiod.app/en/blog/ap-waarschuwing-menstruatie-apps lang: en date: 2026-08-06 publisher: PERIOD. B.V., Amsterdam --- [Back to blog](https://myperiod.app/blog) [Privacy & PERIOD.](https://myperiod.app/blog/categorie/privacy) · 5 min read # The Dutch privacy watchdog warns about period apps: what is going on (and what to check yourself) [Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands](https://myperiod.app/blog/ap-waarschuwing-menstruatie-apps) PERIOD. team · August 6, 2026 On 4 August 2026 the [Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP)](https://www.autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/actueel/ap-privacyrisicos-door-gebruik-menstruatie-apps) published a striking call: be cautious about what you share with period apps. The regulator notes that nearly a quarter of Dutch women use one, that these apps collect very personal information, and that it is often unclear what happens with that data. An investigation into the sector is not ruled out. We build a cycle app ourselves. So let us explain exactly what is going on, why this warning is justified, and how you can check how your own app measures up. Including ours. ## What the regulator actually says The core message: cycle data is not ordinary data. When you menstruate, which symptoms you have, when you have sex and whether you want to become pregnant, that is **special category data** under Article 9 of the GDPR, the most heavily protected category the law knows. The AP therefore sets three requirements for period app providers: - **Demonstrate why you are allowed to process this data.** Processing special category data is prohibited unless a valid exception applies (such as explicit consent). - **Make clear in advance what you do with the data.** Not hidden in legal language, but understandable and findable, before someone uses the app. - **Digital resilience.** Security must match how sensitive this data is. ## Why the warning is justified The history of this market proves the regulator right. The Norwegian Consumer Council documented in 2020 how ten popular apps, cycle apps among them, together shared data with at least 135 external parties. Since then, privacy organisations have filed several studies and complaints about how health data is shared in this market. The pattern repeats: apps promise privacy in the app store and do something else in practice. Research by King's College London and UCL found that over a third of the cycle apps studied claimed in the app store not to share data with third parties, while their own privacy policy contradicted that. ## How to check your app in five minutes - **Find the sub-processor list.** A serious provider publishes who processes data on their behalf. No list to be found? That tells you enough. - **Read the first paragraph of the privacy policy.** Understandable language, or legal fog? - **Check the business model.** Free with no subscription and no clear source of revenue usually means: you are the product. - **Test deletion.** Can you erase your account and everything in it from inside the app? - **Look where your data lives.** EU servers mean the GDPR fully applies. A more detailed version of this checklist is in [a cycle app that does not sell your data: how do you actually know?](https://myperiod.app/blog/cyclus-app-zonder-data-verkopen) ## And PERIOD. itself? We hold our own app to the same standard, in public. Our [privacy policy](https://myperiod.app/privacy) names the legal basis for each processing activity, our [sub-processor page](https://myperiod.app/sub-processors) lists every vendor with what they do and do not see, your cycle data lives on servers in Frankfurt, and you delete your account from inside the app. For anyone allergic to legal language there is [our privacy policy in plain language](https://myperiod.app/blog/privacybeleid-in-mensentaal). And honestly: we welcome this. A regulator watching closely is exactly what this market needs. Apps that do things properly have nothing to fear. Want a cycle app that takes the regulator's three requirements seriously? [Download PERIOD. on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/period-cycle-period-tracker/id6757947793) or [via Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.myperiod.android). The basics stay free. Want to understand your cycle better? ## Keep reading [Best period tracker app for privacy in 2026: 6 questions that decide itWhich cycle app is safest for your data? Six questions to test any app in two minutes, plus how Flo, Clue, Natural Cycles and PERIOD. compare.Read more](https://myperiod.app/blog/best-period-tracker-app-privacy-2026)[Is PERIOD. free? What the app really costs (and what it does not)Short answer: yes. Tracking your cycle, predictions and reminders cost nothing. Plus and baby are extras. Here is exactly what is what, no fine print.Read more](https://myperiod.app/en/blog/is-period-gratis-wat-kost-de-app)[Does my period app sell my data? How to check in 5 minutesShort answer: you cannot tell from the app itself, but you can from the privacy policy and the trackers. Five checks you can do yourself, on any cycle app, including ours.Read more](https://myperiod.app/en/blog/verkoopt-mijn-menstruatie-app-mijn-data-checklist)