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Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

femtechdesigndesk.substack.com

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Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#21

Post by krystalgamer »

johnny22 wrote: post #5
philipallstar wrote: post #3

> It seems like we can’t just necessarily leave it up to companies – or their ragtag teams of crackpot lawyers rewriting privacy policies every few months – to keep our private data private. It's not a medical requirement from a doctor, so just keep a diary if you want to. Not everything needs to be an app. All the money spent on regulations and regulators to cover increasingly niche opt-in services that are entirely…

privacy legislation would just solve the problem by itself though.

"would just solve", lol.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#23

Post by ndriscoll »

kakacik wrote: post #12
sdoering wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it a waste? If you want to provide an app, one should follow the law and the regulations. It isn't the wild west (and even that had regulations). Also: Why blame the victims, not the perp?

Nobody is blaming victims, please stop these wild fabulations. OP meant that you can't trust app owners especially long term, as you write its worse than wild west, literally nobody.gives.a.fuck. till they are dragged to the court, then they fight, dissolve company, still sell the data, start a new one and rinse and repeat. People are simply way more greedy than moral on average if there is any lesson in current time…

> still sell the data

So add liability for the buyers of the data or any services derived from the data (e.g. targeted ads). Make it so large advertisers demand audits showing privacy laws are being followed. Also have personal criminal liability for people building and maintaining systems that collect, store, or process data for illegal purposes. Executives, PMs, engineers, the whole lot. Put them in prison if they continue.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#24

Post by arijun »

ceejayoz wrote: post #8
johnny22 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

privacy legislation would just solve the problem by itself though.

They've been thumbing their noses at EU privacy legislation and fines for quite some time already.

What does thumbing their noses mean? They have been paying while continuing their behavior, or not paying at all?

The first seems like it could be resolved with an escalating fine schedule, and the second could be mitigated by requiring Apple/Google to remove it from the app store (one of the rare cases walled gardens are on consumers' side).

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#25

Post by aboringusername »

I don't actually see this as a problem, and instead it's a PSA everyone needs to internalize:

If you put data onto a networked device it may be sent to some place else.

If you don't want your data being shared:

Use a device that does not have any networking capability (both hardware and software wise)

Use a pen and paper, you can shred and destroy as you see fit.

If you're using an application on a mobile device with mobile data/wifi, the chances are, your data is being uploaded.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#26

Post by john_strinlai »

childofhedgehog wrote: post #20

Why would anyone think that a non-HIPPA compliant app would keep medical information private to the level of security needed for medical data? Flo has definitely breached user trust, but that trust seems misplaced from the get-go.

>Why would anyone think that a non-HIPPA compliant app would keep medical information private to the level of security needed for medical data?

because lots of people dont know what HIPPA is, and (naively to us more familiar with tech) assume that a medical-related app on a curated app store would be safe for medical-related stuff.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#27

Post by ceejayoz »

arijun wrote: post #24
ceejayoz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've been thumbing their noses at EU privacy legislation and fines for quite some time already.

What does thumbing their noses mean? They have been paying while continuing their behavior, or not paying at all? The first seems like it could be resolved with an escalating fine schedule, and the second could be mitigated by requiring Apple/Google to remove it from the app store (one of the rare cases walled gardens are on consumers' side).

> What does thumbing their noses mean? They have been paying while continuing their behavior, or not paying at all?

Malicious compliance. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Games_v._Apple

"While Apple implemented App Store policies to allow developers to link to alternative payment options, the policies still required the developer to provide a 27% revenue share back to Apple, and heavily restricted how they could be shown in apps. Epic filed complaints that these changes violated the ruling, and in April 2025 Rogers found for Epic that Apple had willfully violated her injunction, placing further restrictions on Apple including banning them from collecting revenue shares from non-Apple payment methods or imposing any restrictions on links to such alternative payment options. Though Apple is appealing this latest ruling, they approved the return of Fortnite with its third-party payment system to the App Store in May 2025."

Or https://developer.apple.com/support/dma-and-apps-in-the-eu/

"UPDATE: Previously, Apple announced plans to remove the Home Screen web apps capability in the EU as part of our efforts to comply with the DMA."

(This one resulted in enough fuss they backed down.)

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#28

Post by boesboes »

aboringusername wrote: post #25

I don't actually see this as a problem, and instead it's a PSA everyone needs to internalize: If you put data onto a networked device it may be sent to some place else. If you don't want your data being shared: Use a device that does not have any networking capability (both hardware and software wise) Use a pen and paper, you can shred and destroy as you see fit. If you're using an application on a mobile device with…

that is a really fucked up view

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#29

Post by ceejayoz »

john_strinlai wrote: post #26
childofhedgehog wrote: post #20

Why would anyone think that a non-HIPPA compliant app would keep medical information private to the level of security needed for medical data? Flo has definitely breached user trust, but that trust seems misplaced from the get-go.

> Why would anyone think that a non-HIPPA compliant app would keep medical information private to the level of security needed for medical data? because lots of people dont know what HIPPA is, and (naively to us more familiar with tech) assume that a medical-related app on a curated app store would be safe for medical-related stuff.

> lots of people dont know what HIPPA is

Ironically, it's HIPAA.

You're right, though; it's much more limited than people think. During COVID people claimed everything violated HIPAA (masks, vaccine requirements, testing), but it only applies in a very narrow subset of patient/provider relationships.

Re: Period tracking app, Flo, found to be selling user data to Meta

#30

Post by gizmo686 »

childofhedgehog wrote: post #20

Why would anyone think that a non-HIPPA compliant app would keep medical information private to the level of security needed for medical data? Flo has definitely breached user trust, but that trust seems misplaced from the get-go.

People are used to living in highly regulated markets. When they go to a grocery store to buy lettuce, people don't stop to ask "what regulatory regime is this lettuce being sold under?". They just trust that food being sold in a food store will meet our societal standards for food. I can go to Amazon and order a raw steak for delivery, and still trust it will meet standards.

The situation with wellness apps is that they are a product that are designed specifically to exist outside of the regulatory regime that people associate with them.

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