Google, Flo Health to pay $56 million in period-tracking app privacy case

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) -Google and app developer Flo Health will pay $56 million to settle a class action claiming they violated the privacy of millions of Flo app users by collecting information about their menstrual health cycles and using it for targeted advertising.

Settlement terms were disclosed late Tuesday in San Francisco federal court, and require approval by U.S. District Judge James Donato.

Google, a unit of Alphabet, would pay $48 million, while Flo would pay $8 million. Flurry, a now-defunct mobile analytics company, settled for $3.5 million in March.

A fourth defendant, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, did not settle, and was found liable by a jury on August 4 after a two-week trial.

Meta is expected to appeal the verdict. A hearing to consider damages is scheduled for September 30. Google settled two weeks before the trial began, and Flo settled shortly before the trial ended. Both denied wrongdoing.

Flo app users alleged that between November 2016 and February 2019 Flo shared personal information related to their menstrual periods and pregnancies with the other defendants, despite promising to keep it confidential.

They said this violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, which carries statutory penalties of $5,000 per violation, theoretically justifying billions of dollars in damages.

Google said in a statement on Thursday that no data were used for ads, and customers are prohibited from using Google Analytics to collect health information protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Meta declined to comment. Flo and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is Frasco et al v Flo Health Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 21-00757.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Mark Porter)