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Menstrual tracking app Flo is being accused of selling private health information to third parties like Facebook and Google despite promising not to do so.
Flo Health, the makers of the popular Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app, faces a class action lawsuit claiming it breaks agreements with its users, violates medical confidentiality laws in California and unjustly profits by doing so.
Lead plaintiff Justine Pietrzyk says Flo Health has collected “the intimate health details” from approximately 16 million women in the United States with a commitment it would never be sold or used by a third party.
The class action lawsuit follows a settlement Flo Health reached with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last month, made after the FTC filed a similar complaint against Flo Health’s app last year.
“Flo disclosed health data from millions of users of its Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app to third parties that provided marketing and analytics services to the app, including Facebook’s analytics division, Google’s analytics division, Google’s Fabric service, AppsFlyer, and Flurry,” the FTC complaint said.
Pietrzyk argues much of the same, adding “Flo Health’s actions blatantly flouted its own terms,” according to the class action lawsuit.
Beyond personal identifying information, the Flo app regularly asks users personal information, including if the user has had sex, what kinds of sexually transmitted diseases the user may have, relationship status and if the user masturbates, the lawsuit contends.
Within minutes of downloading the app, a Flo user has already answered 30 questions of this nature, the lawsuit alleges, while Flo Health’s selling of this private information to Facebook, Google and other third-parties contradicts clear policies stated multiple times.
Promotional language on Flo Health’s website claims the company considers privacy of “utmost importance” and the app “provides a secure platform.”
In the Flo app’s terms of service, a policy policy written in all capital letters pledges it “WILL NOT TRANSMIT ANY OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA TO THIRD PARTIES, EXCEPT IF IT IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THE SERVICE TO YOU.”
The issue was initially exposed by the Wall Street Journal in 2019, prompting the FTC investigation, the class action stated.
While this class action is targeting the Flo app specifically, the FTC’s says users of apps, particularly ones involving health, need to be careful. The FTC has published tips to consider when downloading these apps.
“Apps that collect, use, and share sensitive health information can provide valuable services, but consumers need to be able to trust these apps. We are looking closely at whether developers of health apps are keeping their promises and handling sensitive health information responsibly,” FTC Director of Consumer Protection Andrew Smith said.
A separate class action lawsuit filed earlier in February against Flo Health alleges similar claims.
Do you use the Flo app? Let us know in the comments below.
Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit are Aaron M. Sheanin, Christine S. Yun Sauer of Robins Kaplan LLP; Diana J. Zinser, John A. Macoretta and Jeffrey L. Kodroff of Spector Roseman & Kodroff, P.C.
The Flo App Private Data Class Action Lawsuit is Pietrzyk, et al. v. Flo Health, Inc., Case No. 3:21-cv-01141 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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42 thoughts onMenstrual App Flo Accused Again of Selling Private Information
Add me too. I hsve been using this App since 2015.