Show HN: I built a privacy-first period tracker but it seems nobody cares
10 comments
Here POV of the man and engineer:
* Design looks amazing!
* Technically it's not an app. It's a web page. It gives me a an insecurity feeling that my data will be lost on a refresh.
POV of the guy who is building "privacy-first" app: Feels like you fell in love with your solution. Ask your wife to talk to her friends if they care about privacy? Watch a first time user uses your app.
IMHO privacy is a real concern for a fringe minority of the users. You and me are among those. What you just did - is verified that Mr. Market does not care.
When I asked my wife about privacy, she was like "what???".
Couple books that helped shape my view on this: "Fall in love with a problem, not a solution" and "Mom's Test".
* Design looks amazing!
* Technically it's not an app. It's a web page. It gives me a an insecurity feeling that my data will be lost on a refresh.
POV of the guy who is building "privacy-first" app: Feels like you fell in love with your solution. Ask your wife to talk to her friends if they care about privacy? Watch a first time user uses your app.
IMHO privacy is a real concern for a fringe minority of the users. You and me are among those. What you just did - is verified that Mr. Market does not care.
When I asked my wife about privacy, she was like "what???".
Couple books that helped shape my view on this: "Fall in love with a problem, not a solution" and "Mom's Test".
100% agree. It’s less "product-market fit" and more "husband-wife fit." Wasn’t trying to build a startup, just trying to fix something that felt broken for someone I love.
And since it’s free, Faye doesn't need mass adoption. It just needs to exist for that one person who goes, "hold on...my health data ended up where?"
Or for when the next data breach hits and people start searching for local-only options.
Or for when the next data breach hits and people start searching for local-only options.
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Oh, and about the app vs web page comment, I get you. However, it's a progressive web app and can be installed. Works offline too. If you check Faye, you'll notice an install button at the top right.
this is great. just needs different positioning/marketing i think to get the word out. the ui is better than apple health's period tracker, and if you're able to provide useful insights that would be a game changer. check out https://flo.health/flo-premium
Thanks, that means a lot. On the insights side, Faye does give useful cycle predictions and analysis from logged data, and they're all generated offline.
There’s also an optional AI insights feature (using OpenAI API), but only if someone chooses to use it.
Here's the insights page: https://faye.health/insights
I explained more in the privacy policy too: https://faye.health/privacy-policy
There’s also an optional AI insights feature (using OpenAI API), but only if someone chooses to use it.
Here's the insights page: https://faye.health/insights
I explained more in the privacy policy too: https://faye.health/privacy-policy
Replying to +1 the marketing / positioning comment here. I absolutely think there’s a market for this, especially considering the latest attacks on repro rights. Pitching this to select reporters and linking it to something newsworthy and relevant (maybe the 23 and Me data debacle, or repro policy concerns) might improve your user count. Even replying to high performing, relevant Reddit posts might earn you a few more users.
As someone with a period and concerns about data privacy, I’m now using Faye and will tell my friends. Thank you for building this.
As someone with a period and concerns about data privacy, I’m now using Faye and will tell my friends. Thank you for building this.
Thank you. I appreciate this and will try what you've mentioned.
If you have the time, please check out Faye's privacy policy and let me know if it's clear enough: https://faye.health/privacy-policy
My goal is to make it very transparent and easy to understand.
My goal is to make it very transparent and easy to understand.
My wife once showed me a notification she got from her period tracking app. At first, it seemed like a simple reminder. But then came the ads. Not long after, she started getting eerily specific suggestions on other platforms. Things she hadn’t searched for. Things that felt too close. Somewhere, her cycle had been turned into a data point.
That bothered me more than I can explain.
These apps promise helpful insights. But in return, they take so much. Your private health data, your habits, your patterns. And they sell or share it with third parties. Some even charge ridiculous monthly fees, only to flood the app with ads and tracking scripts.
That moment was the beginning of something for me.
I built Faye because I couldn’t stop thinking about how wrong this all felt.
Faye is a free menstrual cycle tracker built from the ground up with one thing in mind: you stay in control.
Your data stays on your device.
No accounts, no cloud sync, no background trackers.
No ads, ever.
You can export or delete your data whenever you want. No begging, no hoops.
There’s a password lock option.
There’s a discreet mode that makes the app look like a work productivity tool, just in case.
It’s completely free, with no hidden costs.
It’s not just an app. It’s a quiet protest against how the system works.
But here’s the part I didn’t expect.
I shared it with a few people. Some friends. Some folks in tech. Some in health circles. Almost nobody responded. Not about the privacy. Not about the features. Not even about the idea. Some tried it, sure. But it was quiet. Too quiet.
And I started to wonder…
Did I build something only we needed? Is this just a personal itch I scratched, or are there people out there who also want this…really want this? People who care deeply about their data staying theirs - people tired of apps that exploit vulnerability for profit.
I sat with that silence longer than I expected.
It made me question everything. How we talk about privacy, who we build for, and whether anyone notices when something doesn’t try to sell them something.
Because when you strip away the dark patterns and the dopamine loops, there’s no reward system left. No notifications engineered to pull you back in. Just a quiet little app, trying to do the right thing.
And maybe that’s the problem. Or maybe that’s the point.
I still don’t know.
I don’t know if I built something only we needed. I don’t know if people really want privacy. I don’t know if “doing the right thing” is enough to make something last.
What I do know is that I couldn’t unsee what I saw. I couldn’t forget that feeling, that jolt, when I realized how casually something so personal was being harvested and sold.
So I built the thing I couldn’t find. I put it out there.
And I’m sharing this, not as a launch or a pitch. Just as a note from someone who built something they believe in, and is now standing in the quiet, hoping it might matter to someone else too.
If that’s you, I’d really love to know. Even just a quick reply telling me you get it would mean a lot.
And if you think someone else in your life might care; a friend, a sister, a partner… maybe share Faye with them.
It’s not a 100-million-dollar idea. But it’s honest. And built with care.
https://faye.health/period-tracker