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A well-liked interval and fertility monitoring app has settled with the Federal Commerce Fee over allegations that it lied to customers about sharing non-public well being data with third-party companies, together with Fb and Google. Flo, a interval and ovulation monitoring app, has greater than 100 million customers.
Within the criticism, the FTC alleges Flo instructed customers their data can be stored non-public. Then it shared their delicate well being information, together with the dates of their durations and their being pregnant plans, with outdoors firms that offered advertising and marketing and analytics companies to the app. It additionally didn’t restrict how this information can be used.
The transfer may have allowed Fb to match delicate well being data with customers’ profiles
The transfer may have allowed Fb to match delicate well being data with customers’ profiles and goal advertisements at them extra successfully. As some customers are extra keen to share non-public data with an app like Flo than a serious social community, the disclosures can really feel invasive.
“Apps that gather, use, and share delicate well being data can present beneficial companies, however customers want to have the ability to belief these apps,” stated Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Shopper Safety. “We’re wanting intently at whether or not builders of well being apps are retaining their guarantees and dealing with delicate well being data responsibly.”
Information of the settlement follows a 2019 report from The Wall Avenue Journal, which revealed that Flo was secretly sharing delicate consumer information with Fb.
A 2019 examine printed in JAMA Community Open additionally confirmed that apps marketed to individuals with despair or who wished to give up smoking have been sharing well being information with Fb and Google as nicely.
As a part of the settlement, Flo has to inform customers about how their private data was shared and ask for his or her permission earlier than sharing extra data sooner or later. The corporate additionally has to obtain an impartial audit of its privateness practices. It didn’t admit any wrongdoing.
In an announcement emailed to The Verge, a spokesperson for Flo stated: “We’re glad to have reached an settlement with the FTC and resolved the matter. We will likely be conducting a compliance evaluation into our insurance policies and procedures as requested as a part of the Consent Settlement and offering the FTC with common updates. We’re dedicated to making sure that the privateness of our customers’ private well being information is totally paramount.”
Replace January thirteenth, 4:35PM ET: This text has been up to date with an announcement from Flo.
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