Sensing Health, Bodies; Data; and Digital Health Technologies

Author

Kressbach; Mikki

Year

2024

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Language

English

Pages

ISBN

978-0-47290-401-3

Link

Last Update

27-Nov-2025

Keywords

Sociology ; Communication Studies ; Feminist & Women's Studies ; Technology

Description

On August 10, 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of the first mobile app for contraception.¹ Developed in Switzerland by Elina and Raoul Berglund, Natural Cycles combines daily self-reported data and a basal smart thermometer to predict a user’s ovulation window. Marketed primarily toward cisgender heterosexual women, the app tracks qualitative and quantitative information about the user’s menstrual cycle. The basal thermometer provides an “indirect” measure of hormones, which is combined with self-reported data, processed through the app’s algorithm, and interpreted as a “green” or “red” day, indicating whether a user should use contraception. Like...