perhaps it has, but considering what American women in particular are risking if their menstrual data is leaked this doesn't seem like an example of said loss of meaning
If your period stops long enough to suggest a pregnancy, and then resumes without giving birth on record, that's enough evidence that you might have terminated the pregnancy. This can be correlated with travel records to find that you used a clinic out of state, which is a crime in some jurisdictions.
Pregnancy (even without elective abortion!) has a variety of risks of criminal prosecution in the post-Dobbs world, and prosecutors in some states where this is the case have expressed desire to use menstrual data to identify targets for investigation.
There's also sometimes significant risks of nongovernmental (particularly family and intimate partner) violence associated with situations that can be inferred from that data, which is one reason people often conceal things which might be inferred from it from selected other people.
Historically, "safety" referred to protection from physical harm. It has now expanded into psychological, emotional, economical realms. This had the (very much intended) effect of redefining "unsafe" from imminent and persistent threat to anything that makes me uncomfortable.
Not sure how that's super relevant here? "my data could be used to accuse me of a crime" is a threat of physical harm anyway, unless you define being arrested as safe.
And I don't really think public opinion has shifted on that part. You could argue about emotional comfort or something, maybe.
When your ideologies don't stand on their own merit, one last resort is to redefine words (and hope nobody notices) in order to force people to believe what you say.
also in the 70s people would not even have "noticed" covid. back then people could not even be bothered to use seatbelts or stop chainsmoking (even in airplanes).
what is considered "acceptable risk" has completely changed in the past few decades.
There were 3 million excess deaths in the US alone from Covid, even with drastic efforts to reduce. I assure you, it would have been noticed in the 1970’s the same way the 1918 influenza pandemic was.
In 1976 there was the H1N1 outbreak which only caused 1 death and 13 hospitalizations but lead to a massive vaccination campaign for tens of millions of Americas, so yeah, they would have.
Maybe you are completely unaware, but many US states have criminalized abortion. Pregnancies and abortions are detectable from menstrual data.
With this in mind, why do the users trust these companies in supplying that data? I’m asking this is earnest.
Most abortions do not result from planned pregnancies.
It's not a problem until it suddenly is.
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The obvious answer is that it's not an actual issue.
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perhaps it has, but considering what American women in particular are risking if their menstrual data is leaked this doesn't seem like an example of said loss of meaning
What specific safety risks could an American woman face if her menstrual data were leaked?
If your period stops long enough to suggest a pregnancy, and then resumes without giving birth on record, that's enough evidence that you might have terminated the pregnancy. This can be correlated with travel records to find that you used a clinic out of state, which is a crime in some jurisdictions.
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Pregnancy (even without elective abortion!) has a variety of risks of criminal prosecution in the post-Dobbs world, and prosecutors in some states where this is the case have expressed desire to use menstrual data to identify targets for investigation.
There's also sometimes significant risks of nongovernmental (particularly family and intimate partner) violence associated with situations that can be inferred from that data, which is one reason people often conceal things which might be inferred from it from selected other people.
Safety and privacy are so closely linked for this usage to be feasible, especially with how available and identifiable anonymised data can be.
We're at a point in America where braindead corpses have to be forced to bring a baby to term https://www.today.com/health/womens-health/brain-dead-mom-fo...
So no, and take some time for self reflection.
Can you explain?
Historically, "safety" referred to protection from physical harm. It has now expanded into psychological, emotional, economical realms. This had the (very much intended) effect of redefining "unsafe" from imminent and persistent threat to anything that makes me uncomfortable.
In America, in many states, you can be imprisoned for having an abortion.
Sharing your menstrual data and therefore having it available for subpoena is quite literally a physical safety risk.
If you don't understand, or disagree that the word "safety" is entirely appropriate here, can you talk about why?
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Really? Intentional infliction of emotional distress goes back to the late 1800s
Not sure how that's super relevant here? "my data could be used to accuse me of a crime" is a threat of physical harm anyway, unless you define being arrested as safe.
And I don't really think public opinion has shifted on that part. You could argue about emotional comfort or something, maybe.
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When your ideologies don't stand on their own merit, one last resort is to redefine words (and hope nobody notices) in order to force people to believe what you say.
also in the 70s people would not even have "noticed" covid. back then people could not even be bothered to use seatbelts or stop chainsmoking (even in airplanes).
what is considered "acceptable risk" has completely changed in the past few decades.
There were 3 million excess deaths in the US alone from Covid, even with drastic efforts to reduce. I assure you, it would have been noticed in the 1970’s the same way the 1918 influenza pandemic was.
In 1976 there was the H1N1 outbreak which only caused 1 death and 13 hospitalizations but lead to a massive vaccination campaign for tens of millions of Americas, so yeah, they would have.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_swine_flu_outbreak
The 1968 "Hong Kong flu" had a similar case fatality rate and they certainly noticed that.
That’s also because they had much healthier weights and were on average a decade younger.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Philadelphia_Legionnair...
1976 new illness appeared, CDC did a full investigation, identified the cause.