展示HN:我开发了一个以隐私为首的月经追踪器,但似乎没有人关心。
将我们最私密的数据交给那些几乎不值得信任的应用程序,这种现象的普遍化让我感到不安。
我妻子曾向我展示过她的月经追踪应用发来的通知。起初,这似乎只是一个简单的提醒。但接着,广告来了。不久之后,她在其他平台上开始收到一些令人毛骨悚然的具体建议。那些她从未搜索过的东西,感觉过于贴近。她的生理周期在某个地方被转化为一个数据点。
这让我感到困扰,难以用言语表达。
这些应用承诺提供有用的洞察,但作为回报,它们却索取了太多。你的私人健康数据、你的习惯、你的模式。它们将这些数据出售或分享给第三方。有些甚至收取荒谬的月费,却在应用中充斥着广告和追踪脚本。
那一刻对我来说是一个新的开始。
我创建了Faye,因为我无法停止思考这一切是多么错误。
Faye是一个免费的月经周期追踪应用,从头开始构建,唯一的目标就是:你掌控一切。
你的数据保留在你的设备上。
没有账户,没有云同步,没有后台追踪器。
永远没有广告。
你可以随时导出或删除你的数据。没有乞求,没有障碍。
还有密码锁选项。
有一个隐私模式,让应用看起来像是工作生产力工具,以防万一。
它完全免费,没有隐藏费用。
这不仅仅是一个应用。这是对现有系统运作方式的安静抗议。
但我没有预料到的是这一点。
我与几个人分享了这个应用。一些朋友,一些科技圈的人,还有一些健康领域的人。几乎没有人回应。没有人谈论隐私,没有人谈论功能,甚至没有人谈论这个想法。有些人试用了,当然。但反响很平静,太平静了。
我开始思考……
我是否只构建了我们需要的东西?这是我个人的需求,还是外面还有人也想要这个……真的想要这个?那些深切关心自己数据安全的人——那些厌倦了利用脆弱性谋取利益的应用的人。
我在这种沉默中思考的时间比我预想的要长。
这让我质疑了一切。我们如何谈论隐私,我们为谁而构建,以及当某个东西不试图向他们推销时,是否有人会注意到。
因为当你剥离掉那些黑暗模式和多巴胺循环时,就没有剩下什么奖励系统。没有经过设计的通知来拉你回去。只有一个安静的小应用,试图做正确的事情。
也许这就是问题所在。或者这就是重点。
我仍然不知道。
我不知道我是否只构建了我们需要的东西。
我不知道人们是否真的想要隐私。
我不知道“做正确的事情”是否足以让某个东西持久。
我所知道的是,我无法忘记我所看到的。我无法忘记当我意识到如此私密的东西是如何被随意收集和出售时的那种震惊感。
所以我构建了我找不到的东西。我把它发布了出去。
我分享这些,不是作为发布或推销。只是作为一个相信自己所构建的东西的人发出的一个便条,现在站在这里,希望它也能对其他人有所意义。
如果你是那个人,我真的很想知道。即使只是简单的回复告诉我你明白了,这对我来说也意义重大。
如果你认为你生活中的其他人可能会关心这个;一个朋友,一个姐妹,一个伴侣……也许可以把Faye分享给他们。
这不是一个价值一亿美元的创意。
但它是诚实的。
并且是用心构建的。
查看原文
There’s something quietly unsettling about how normal it's become to hand over our most personal data to apps that barely deserve our trust.<p>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.<p>That bothered me more than I can explain.<p>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.<p>That moment was the beginning of something for me.<p>I built Faye because I couldn’t stop thinking about how wrong this all felt.<p>Faye is a free menstrual cycle tracker built from the ground up with one thing in mind: you stay in control.<p>Your data stays on your device.<p>No accounts, no cloud sync, no background trackers.<p>No ads, ever.<p>You can export or delete your data whenever you want. No begging, no hoops.<p>There’s a password lock option.<p>There’s a discreet mode that makes the app look like a work productivity tool, just in case.<p>It’s completely free, with no hidden costs.<p>It’s not just an app. It’s a quiet protest against how the system works.<p>But here’s the part I didn’t expect.<p>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.<p>And I started to wonder…<p>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.<p>I sat with that silence longer than I expected.<p>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.<p>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.<p>And maybe that’s the problem. Or maybe that’s the point.<p>I still don’t know.<p>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.<p>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.<p>So I built the thing I couldn’t find. I put it out there.<p>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.<p>If that’s you, I’d really love to know. Even just a quick reply telling me you get it would mean a lot.<p>And if you think someone else in your life might care; a friend, a sister, a partner… maybe share Faye with them.<p>It’s not a 100-million-dollar idea.
But it’s honest.
And built with care.