WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission has reached an agreement with Flo Health Inc., developer of a widely used period and fertility tracking app, on the grounds that it improperly shared personal data with Facebook and others, including whether users were ovulating.
The data shared by Flo Health often allowed online ads to target these users, despite Flo Health’s promises that the information would be kept confidential, the Wall Street Journal found in a 2019 article.
The FTC’s vote on the proposed deal was 5-0, the agency said on Wednesday. The proposed agreement with the FTC, if it becomes final after public comments, will require Flo Health to obtain an independent review of its privacy practices and obtain users’ consent before sharing their health information, the agency said. The company must also notify consumers of the FTC’s allegations that it shares consumers’ personal information without their consent, the commissioners said.
In a statement, a spokesman for Flo said the company cooperated with the FTC, adding: “We are committed to ensuring that the privacy of our users’ personal health data is absolutely paramount.”
The company emphasized that it did not share the users’ names, addresses or birthdays, and that its agreement with the FTC was not an admission of wrongdoing, but allowed “to avoid the time and expense of litigation and … put it in a way matter behind us. ”