A California jury has found Meta liable for violating state privacy laws by collecting menstrual health data from period tracking app Flo without users’ consent. The verdict comes after Flo Health settled the same class action lawsuit a few days ago.
The case alleged that Meta and other companies collected private health data including period dates and fertility goals through Flo’s app for advertising purposes, violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act. The lawsuit originally named Meta, Google, Flo, and ad analytics companies AppsFlyer and Flurry as defendants.
Google settled the case in July, while Flo reached its settlement after a judge indicated plaintiffs faced evidentiary challenges in proving their claims. Meta proceeded to trial and now faces potential damages for the privacy violations. Meta disputed the verdict and said it never eavesdropped on Flo users.
The verdict represents a significant development for digital health privacy, establishing potential liability for tech companies that collect sensitive reproductive health data without explicit user consent.
