Data protection compliance risks in Chinese women’s health applications: Commercial logic and reproductive privacy

Haokai Liu, Tian Tan

Abstract

This study aimed to examine data protection compliance risks in five Chinese women’s health applications covering menstrual management, pregnancy support, and parenting records. This study analyzed privacy policies, information collection and permission lists, third-party disclosures, and simulated testing of user-facing functions to assess reproductive, pregnancy, parenting, and family health data processing in commercial applications. Three compliance gaps were identified. Data for health management functions extended to device and location data, advertising-related services, and third-party technical services, blurring the distinction between necessary data and non-essential commercial or technical data. Authorization for sensitive reproductive, pregnancy, or parenting information was often presented through registration, profile completion, or function activation, limiting separate consent. Users had limited control over advertising, profiling, and third-party technical services. These limitations may affect trust, accurate self-reporting, and equitable access in digital reproductive health services. The findings of this study support application-specific rules, interface review, and privacy-protective design for women’s health applications in China, with relevance for African and other digital health markets.

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