California Jury Rules Against Meta in Privacy Lawsuit Over Collection of Sensitive Data from Period-Tracking App

A federal jury in California has found Meta liable for violating the state’s Invasion of Privacy Act in a lawsuit alleging that the tech giant collected sensitive data from Flo, a period-tracking app. The ruling was delivered in a verdict form filed on Friday at the U.S. District Court for Northern District of California.

The case, which dates back to 2021, is part of a class-action lawsuit against Flo Health, Meta, Alphabet Inc., and other data analytics firms. The plaintiffs claimed that while Flo Health assured users their reproductive health information and survey responses would remain confidential, personal data was instead shared with companies like Meta and Google through their respective advertising tools.

Google and one of the analytics firms settled their claims before the trial began in July, while Flo Health reached a settlement on the day before the trial’s conclusion on August 1. Meta opted to contest the allegations in court. The social media giant is expected to appeal the verdict.

Lead trial lawyers Michael Canty and Carol Villegas of Labaton Keller Sucharow commented, “This verdict underscores the protection of digital health data and the accountability of Big Tech. Companies like Meta that profit covertly from users’ most intimate information must be held responsible.”

A Meta spokesperson disputed the ruling, stating, “The plaintiffs’ claims against Meta are baseless. User privacy is important to Meta, which is why we explicitly prohibit developers from sending sensitive information in our terms of service.”