Meta illegally collected menstrual data for FLO users, the jury bases

California jury has found that the user health data that was collected illegally from the FLO period tracking application violates the state’s law. Ruling It concludes a lawsuit Flo, Meta and App Analytics Company were submitted in 2021, where FLO users accused the companies of collecting their menstrual health data without agreeing to the targeted advertisement.

While Flo promised to keep the sensitive reproductive health information for users, the lawsuit claimed that Flo allowed Google and Meta to listen to the contacts within the application between November 2016 and February 2019, violating the invasion of the California Privacy Law. The cases brought against FLO, Google and Flurry were resolved through unannounced settlements before the trial, leaving Meta as the only remaining defendant.

jury It reached a ruling on Monday There was a “predominance” of the evidence that Meta was “had deliberately eavesdropping and/or recorded using an electronic device”, without the knowledge of the FLO users. While financial damage has not yet been determined, every violation of the California Law of the Privacy Law can lead to a penalty of $ 5,000, with the lawsuit on behalf of the “millions” of FLO users.

“This judgment sends a clear message about protecting digital health data and responsibilities of large technology,” the prosecutor of the trial Michael B. Kanti and Carol C Villagas He said in a statement. “Companies like Meta, which secretly benefit from the most intimate information for users, should bear.”

Mita objected to the ruling and is likely to appeal the decision.

“We disagree strongly with this result and explore all legal options,” Meta said. A statement reported Techcrunch. “The claims of the prosecutors against Meta are simply wrong. The user’s privacy is important for the description, which is why we do not want health or any other sensitive information, and why our conditions prevent developers from sending any of them.”