The UK’s advertising watchdog rules against company over its marketing of the app

An advert describing a smartphone app as a “highly accurate” method of birth control has been found to be misleading by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) in the latest blow to the much-hyped Swedish company, Natural Cycles.

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The offending advert, which appeared on Facebook, promoted the app by saying: “Natural Cycles is a highly accurate, certified, contraceptive app that adapts to every woman’s unique menstrual cycle.”

However, the ASA began investigating the advert after it received three complaints about the app. Now the ASA has banned it, saying it was misleading and exaggerated the app’s effectiveness.

“In the context of the ad, the claim ‘highly accurate contraceptive app’ would be understood by consumers to mean that the app had a high degree of accuracy and was therefore very reliable in being able to prevent unwanted pregnancies,” the ruling said.

The ruling also discussed a video which accompanied the ad and talked about the app’s credentials.

“We further considered that the claim ‘clinically tested alternative to birth control methods’, presented alongside the ‘highly accurate’ claim would be understood to mean that the app was a reliable method of contraception which could be used in place of other established birth control methods, including those that were highly reliable in preventing unwanted pregnancies,” the ASA said.

Natural Cycles has been heavily promoted as a non-hormonal and non-intrusive form of contraception. The app costs £39.99 a year, or £5.99 a month, and comes with a thermometer.

It uses a set of algorithms that indicate by means of “red” or “green” days whether a woman is at risk of pregnancy in the event of unprotected sex. To reduce the number of red “at risk” days in a month, women must take their temperature at the same time every morning to allow the app to track ovulation and menstrual cycle phases. However, if anything disrupts the routine – being hungover, smoking or getting up to go to the bathroom can affect body temperature – a reading must be skipped.

A flurry of studies published by the company led to claims that if the app were used perfectly it had a 99% efficacy rate, with a typical use rate of 93% – values that were said to be on a par with the contraceptive pill.

However some experts have been sceptical, noting the app was less effective than many forms of birth control and required strict adherence to a temperature-taking routine, with the studies based on a self-selecting pool of users. Others have raised concerns about unwanted pregnancies.

In January, the app was referred to Swedish authorities after 37 of 668 abortions sought at one hospital in Stockholm were for women who had been using the app as a method of contraception.

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Natural Cycles said in response to the ruling: “We respect the outcome of the investigation by the ASA into one Facebook advertisement, which ran for approximately four weeks in mid-2017. The investigation was initiated nearly 12 months ago and the advertisement was removed as soon as we were notified of the complaint.”

The ASA warned the company behind Natural Cycles that it must not exaggerate the efficacy of the method as a form of contraception.

Bekki Burbidge, of the Family Planning Association, said women needed to take care to avoid potential problems with such apps.

“It’s important when using Natural Cycles that women are aware of all the things that might make it less effective, so we’re very cautious about using apps to prevent a pregnancy without getting help and support from a trained fertility awareness teacher,” she said.

• This article was updated on 29 August 2018 to clarify that the ASA received three complaints, not five, and to remove a reference to the investigation having started last month; it started in 2017.