Jurors Find that META (Facebook) Eavesdropped On Women's Private Data from Menstrual Tracking App (FLO)

Flo users had a reasonable expectation that their intimate data wasn’t being shared, a San Francisco jury found.

Jurors on Friday found that Meta intentionally recorded the sensitive health information of millions of women through period-tracking app Flo.

App users also had a reasonable expectation that their data wasn’t being shared, and Facebook’s parent company lacked consent for its actions, the jury said, answering “yes” to each of three verdict form queries after three hours of deliberation, Margaret Attridge reports. 

“Today, you get to decide how seriously Big Tech takes privacy,” plaintiff attorney Michael Canty said during closings earlier in the day. "You have the opportunity today to tell Meta: you don't get a pass."

Flo itself was absent from the verdict sheet: The company settled the class action for its part the day before, about two weeks into the San Francisco trial. 

The company stood to pay billions of dollars in damages over claims that it shared users’ private health information with Meta, Google (which settled last month) and other third parties without consent. 

Users who track their period, ovulation and pregnancy in the Flo app, launched in 2016, must answer a series of intimate questions about their menstrual cycle, sexual activity and mood changes. The plaintiff class says Flo shared that information, and misled them about doing so, in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act. 

Flo admitted no wrongdoing in its settlement, which still needs court approval. It previously argued that app users had agreed to the company’s privacy policy. 

Meta argued in closing that it never received the plaintiffs’ private data.