Privacy of human reproductive health information: digital challenges and regulatory issues

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18370/2309-4117.2025.80.70-84

Keywords:

reproductive health, reproductive data, artificial intelligence, digitalization, privacy, confidential information, medical secrecy, legal policy, legal regulation

Abstract

Background. The digitalization of healthcare, the rapid expansion of mobile applications and integrated mHealth platforms, as well as the increasing use of artificial intelligence, are reshaping the ways reproductive data are collected, processed, and shared. These data belong to the most sensitive categories of medical information, and their leakage or improper use undermines privacy, violates medical secrecy, creates risks of discrimination and stigmatization, and directly affects the realization of reproductive rights. In the Ukrainian context, these challenges are intensified by fragmented legal regulation, insufficient development of public policy in digital health, and a generally low level of awareness in the field of reproductive rights.
Objective of the study: to conduct an interdisciplinary analysis of the existential challenges posed by digitalization for the confidentiality of information related to human reproductive health.
Materials and methods. The methodological framework combines dialectical, ethical-normative, phenomenological and complementary approaches with comparative-legal, statistical, and doctrinal methods. The empirical component is based on an online survey (n = 643) assessing public trust in mechanisms protecting confidential information in the field of reproductive health. The regulatory analysis covered the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Convention 108+, Ukrainian legislation, and international standards.
Results. The findings indicate that reproductive data are perceived as the most vulnerable to risks associated with digital processing. Users of digital services for fertility or menstrual cycle tracking demonstrated significantly higher levels of concern regarding potential data breaches. Statistically significant associations were revealed between anxiety related to data leakage and behavioral decisions, particularly the tendency to postpone medical consultations. Key challenges were identified, including commercial profiling, unfair data collection practices, algorithmic discrimination, re-identification of genetic data, system vulnerabilities, and insufficient alignment of national regulation with GDPR and Convention 108+. The study also revealed gaps in Ukrainian health law, such as the absence of a distinct category of reproductive data, inadequate technical security standards, and unregulated cross-border data transfers.
Conclusions. The results confirm the need to develop an integrated legal policy aimed at strengthening privacy and medical secrecy in the context of digitalization. Priority steps include: defining reproductive data as a separate protected category; harmonizing national regulation with GDPR and Convention 108+; implementing unified technical security standards for mHealth platforms; creating a legal framework for the use of artificial intelligence in reproductive medicine; reinforcing mechanisms of informed consent; and improving public awareness of reproductive rights.

Author Biographies

A.I. Subbot, Kyiv International University, Kyiv

doctor of juridical sciences, professor, head of the Department of Public and European Law

K.O. Kalachenkova, Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University, Vinnytsia

candidate of juridical sciences, associate professor, Department of Economic and Administrative Law

V.V. Berch, Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod

doctor of juridical sciences, associate professor, professor of the Department of Constitutional Law and Comparative Law

A.V. Basalaeva, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv

PhD, lecturer of Constitutional Law Department

B.P. Ratushna, Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies of Lviv, Lviv

candidate of juridical sciences, associate professor, Department of Law

V.I. Prodan, Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod

PhD, senior lecturer, Department of Constitutional Law and Comparative Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law

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Published

2025-11-28

How to Cite

Subbot, A., Kalachenkova, K., Berch, V., Basalaeva, A., Ratushna, B., & Prodan, V. (2025). Privacy of human reproductive health information: digital challenges and regulatory issues. REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY, (80), 70–84. https://doi.org/10.18370/2309-4117.2025.80.70-84

Issue

No. 80 (2025)

Section

Legal aspects of reproductive health

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