“Our Users' Privacy is Paramount to Us”: A Discourse Analysis of How Period and Fertility Tracking App Companies Address the Roe v. Wade Overturn

Abstract

After the overturn of Roe v. Wade gave states the license to ban abortion, numerous people in US have grown to worry about privacy in using period and fertility tracking apps. To address these concerns, some app companies have issued public statements to engage in privacy communication with their users. Prior literature has investigated period and fertility tracking apps' data practices in their privacy policies. However, there remains a dearth of knowledge regarding how companies use privacy communication to address historic privacy-related events such as the overturn. To address the gap, this study investigated app companies' public statements addressing the overturn of Roe using a combined approach of thematic and discourse analysis. Our findings revealed that companies strategically emphasize their commitment to privacy by demonstrating how their business practices and values are closely intertwined with their efforts to protect user data. We conclude by discussing translatable implications for privacy research.