Glow (app)

Did You Know?

• Glow's core features include cycle logging, ovulation prediction, and symptom tracking.
• The app provides educational content related to reproductive health and childcare.
• Glow operates an online shop selling ovulation test strips, pregnancy tests, and wearable breast pumps.

History

Glow debuted as an iOS app in August 2013, co-founded by Michael Huang and Max Levchin. It secured $6 million in Series A funding from Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, followed by an additional $17 million in Series B funding in 2014, with Formation 8 joining earlier backers. In 2015, Glow introduced Ruby, an app for sexual health, and added male fertility monitoring features. The company later released apps for pregnancy tracking and infant development. Glow reported around 3 million users in 2016, a figure that climbed to 15 million by 2018. Vox called it one of the “big two” period and fertility trackers and credited it with sparking the femtech boom.

Privacy and legal issues

Glow has faced scrutiny over its privacy and data security practices. In 2016, Consumer Reports flagged potential vulnerabilities that could have exposed user data, though Glow told The Washington Post it had fixed the issues and found no evidence of any breach. In September 2020, the California Attorney General reached a settlement with Glow over those findings, which included a $250,000 civil penalty. Later, a University of New South Wales research team gave the app a mixed assessment: they found it offered several privacy controls and anonymized sensitive data, but warned that user information might still be shared if the app were ever sold. Glow disputed this, telling the Australian Associated Press it "did not share" personal data, and pointed to its internal security measures and an offline data protection setting that lets users permanently delete their health information.