Privacy Not Included was launched in 2017 to help you understand the privacy risks of tech products that connect to the internet. We are continuing that work in the form of Privacy Reviews at our magazine Nothing Personal, where our privacy experts do hours of hands-on testing and research on the most popular consumer tech items and their privacy features.
Looking for an app outside U.S. jurisdiction? Discover how Germany's Clue app handles data encryption and ad tracking in our full privacy review. Our hands on testing found a company that's made thoughtful choices about user data and privacy. But the data you give it is still data: detailed, personal, and held by one company for as long as you keep using it. Find out why we gave the app a score of 8 out of 10.
Read our privacy expert's review of the messaging app Whatsapp. While WhatsApp can be used relatively safely, there are some privacy pitfalls lurking beneath the surface. Most of them relate to WhatsApp’s ownership. Concerns have surfaced over how much data Whatsapp shares with its parent company, Meta.
Is Flo safe to use after its data sharing scandals? Read our privacy review to see how the world's most popular period tracker handles your sensitive health data and why we gave it a score of 7 out of 10. In our testing, we found a company that did the work to keep its reproductive-health modeling contained. In this category, that’s not something you should take for granted.
Read our privacy expert's review of the messaging app iMessage. Apple’s “private” alternative to SMS is the default text handler for iOS, so it comes bundled with every iPhone. It’s certainly more secure than sending a text over the phone network.
Read our privacy expert's review of the messaging app Signal. Signal is widely regarded as the “best in class” private messenger app. Unlike most messaging apps, Signal takes a completely hands-off approach to your data. All of your traffic is end-to-end encrypted without exception.
Is Euki the most private period tracker available? Read our deep-dive review to see how its 100% local data storage keeps your cycle history completely off the grid. The app impressed us so much that we gave it our first 10 out of 10 rating.
At the Mozilla Foundation, we fight for a better internet. Our privacy review's methodology outlines how we audit app data traffic and uncover privacy risks in apps, devices, and connected toys. Our testing is done by privacy experts who have decades of experience with hands-on testing and data leaks.
Read our privacy expert's review of the Oura Ring Gen 4. While Oura says the right things about data protection in their privacy policy, there's no getting away from the fact that the product doesn't work without cloud connection, meaning that your most intimate health data lives on servers you do not control.
Is the Spot On period tracking app safe? Read our deep-dive privacy review to see how the Planned Parenthood app handles your data, encryption, and third-party sharing. We gave the app a score of 5 out of 10. Our testing found that you should stick to the core logging features, keep the web out of the experience when you can, and use an anti-tracking browser when you can’t.
