"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."
"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."
"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."
Google and Flo Health will pay $56 million to settle a class action alleging sharing of menstrual and pregnancy data for advertising; Google pays $48 million and Flo $8 million, while analytics firm Flurry earlier settled for $3.5 million. Meta did not settle and was found liable by a jury on August 4 and plans to appeal; a damages hearing is set for September 30. Plaintiffs allege Flo shared personal information between November 2016 and February 2019 despite promises of confidentiality, violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act with $5,000 statutory penalties per violation. Google denied data were used for ads and cited Analytics restrictions on health data.
Read at Aol
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]