California Jury Rules Against Meta for Eavesdropping on Health Data
A California jury has found that Meta unlawfully collected user health data from the Flo period-tracking app, violating the state’s wiretap law. The ruling concludes a lawsuit initiated in 2021, in which users accused Flo, Google, Meta, and analytics company Flurry of harvesting their private menstrual health information without consent for targeted advertising, reports 24brussels.
Despite Flo’s commitment to maintaining user confidentiality, the lawsuit claimed that Flo allowed Meta and Google to eavesdrop on in-app communications between November 2016 and February 2019, breaching California’s Invasion of Privacy Act. The cases against Flo, Google, and Flurry were settled prior to trial, with Meta remaining the sole defendant.
On Monday, the jury determined that evidence demonstrated Meta had “intentionally eavesdropped on and/or recorded conversations using an electronic device,” unbeknownst to Flo app users. Although financial damages remain undecided, penalties for each infraction of the California Invasion of Privacy Act could be as high as $5,000, with the lawsuit representing “millions” of affected Flo users.
Lead trial attorneys Michael P. Canty and Carol C. Villegas commented, “This verdict sends a clear message about the protection of digital health data and the responsibilities of Big Tech. Companies like Meta that covertly profit from users’ most intimate information must be held accountable.”
Meta has expressed disagreement with the verdict and is expected to appeal the decision. In a statement, the company asserted, “We vigorously disagree with this outcome and are exploring all legal options. The plaintiffs’ claims against Meta are simply false. User privacy is important to Meta, which is why we do not want health or other sensitive information, and why our terms prohibit developers from sending any.”
