Google and period-tracking app developer Flo Health will pay $56 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging they violated the privacy of millions of Flo app users by collecting menstrual health data for targeted advertising. Google will pay $48 million while Flo will contribute $8 million to the settlement, which requires court approval.
The lawsuit alleged that between November 2016 and February 2019, Flo shared personal information about users’ menstrual periods and pregnancies with Google and other defendants despite promising to keep the data confidential. Users claimed this violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, which carries statutory penalties of $5,000 per violation.
A now-defunct mobile analytics company, Flurry, settled for $3.5 million in March. Meta Platforms, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, did not settle and was found liable by a jury following a two-week trial in August. A damages hearing for Meta is scheduled for September 30.
The case highlights growing concerns about data privacy in women’s health apps, particularly following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which heightened fears about how reproductive health data might be used. Period-tracking apps collect intimate health information that users may assume is protected under medical privacy laws.
Google stated that no data were used for ads and that customers are prohibited from using Google Analytics to collect health information protected under federal HIPAA regulations. Both Google and Flo denied wrongdoing in the settlements.
The settlement terms were disclosed in San Francisco federal court and await approval by U.S. District Judge James Donato. Google settled two weeks before trial began, while Flo settled shortly before the trial concluded.
Flo Health operates one of the world’s most popular period-tracking applications, used by millions of women to monitor their menstrual cycles, fertility, and pregnancy symptoms.
