[todayiamme]

No, it can't. And you're missing the point of why we're doing this. Such kind of tracking is powerful not because it helps you keep track of what happened, but what could happen. There are patterns that humans can't easily discern that correlate with everything from ovarian cysts to endometriosis --- detecting the problem early on, gives people a better, longer life in the long run, and prevents potentially fatal complications in the case of pregnancy.

What you're saying is exactly like a logistics company saying - why should we enter our logs into this computer? What's the point? A pen and paper seem to work just fine... We all know how that story turned out. This story is playing out with women's lives instead of efficiency points/dollars in the global economy (though at some level it does map to do that as well), and real people are suffering as a result. They deserve better.

[tropo]

I think you are being dismissive of a solution that you can't datamine. The privacy violation is real, unless you made an app without any kind of network permissions.

Hint for those watching: HIPPA doesn't apply to self-gathered self-entered data, and there are many (insurance companies, drug companies, diaper services...) who would love to know this data.

[icebraining]

There are patterns that humans can't easily discern that correlate with everything from ovarian cysts to endometriosis

That's the thing: us from the outside don't know this (particularly men, but I'm guessing many women as well). But we do know that over-engineering is an endemic problem in our industry, including in the healthcare area. So the question seems fair, because we don't want to see people's health being exploited by selling them useless stuff. Because those abound. It's always the makers/sellers' job to show that their thing is useful.

A pen and paper seem to work just fine... We all know how that story turned out.

No, not all of us know. People - even those in the logistics space - still ask that question today. As someone who helped develop such solutions, educating people was part and parcel of our business.