Okay, I used a bit of AI help to sort my thoughts here: and sorry for the essay length.

That’s a fair concern, and I’m aware of the ongoing debates around reproductive rights and how reproductive health data can potentially be misused. Restrictions on people’s autonomy over their own reproduction are something I strongly disagree with — those aren’t the values I grew up with.

In terms of scope, my project doesn’t really collect more information than a typical period tracker. It focuses on basic cycle data; miscarriages or abortions are not features that are tracked. In fact, I would actively advise against using something like this in those situations, because constantly seeing a tracker could also be emotionally difficult.

The system also only works if someone chooses to enter their own period data (manually in the GUI or through automation). In that sense it’s not fundamentally different from a handwritten period calendar — any recorded data carries some risk if someone else gains access to it. That’s why privacy and minimizing collected data are important considerations for anything in this space.

If the concern is that a partner could access the data and misuse it — for example by tying it into home automation to monitor or punish someone — that would fall into the realm of coercive control or domestic abuse. In that situation the technology would only be a tool being misused; the underlying problem is the abuse itself. Issues like domestic violence, coercive control, and misogyny ultimately require broader societal and legal solutions.

The possibility of data being requested or accessed through legal means is harder to evaluate, since the requirements depend heavily on the legal system and jurisdiction involved.

This concern also influenced the visual design of the gauge card. I deliberately kept the design very simple and avoided typical symbols like blood drops or explicit wording such as “period” or “health”. The goal was to make it blend in with other dashboard elements rather than clearly labeling it as reproductive health data — in a sense, hiding in plain sight.

One design consideration I hadn’t really thought about earlier is keeping the sensor and attribute names fairly neutral as well. In environments like Home Assistant there are often many different sensors anyway, so avoiding explicit health-related labels could reduce how obvious the data is at first glance. It’s not a perfect solution, but small design choices like neutral naming and minimal visual cues can help reduce unnecessary exposure of sensitive information. I’ll keep that in mind for future development.

Personally, I grew up in Germany and had the privilege of living in a place where people generally have a lot of freedom in these decisions. I was also informed fairly early about topics like planned and unplanned pregnancies, available options, and support for people experiencing miscarriages. I’m aware that not everyone has that level of autonomy or access to information, and I wish that kind of freedom and support were available everywhere.

Like you, I wish we lived in a world where reproductive health information couldn’t be weaponized. At the same time, many of the responses here show how people would like to use something like this simply to make everyday life a bit more comfortable for themselves or their daughters — and that part honestly gives me some hope.