Fertility app Premom shared user health data with third parties, FTC says

A free fertility app used to track ovulation shared users’ health information with other companies, including Google and China-based marketing and analytics firms, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday in announcing a $200,000 settlement.

Easy Healthcare, which owns Premom, did not disclose to users that the information would be shared or get permission from users to share the data, according to the FTC. The company also didn’t limit what the third-party companies could do with the information. 

“Premom broke its promises and compromised consumers’ privacy,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said. “We will vigorously enforce the Health Breach Notification Rule to defend consumer’s health data from exploitation. Companies collecting this information should be aware that the FTC will not tolerate health privacy abuses.”

In a complaint filed by the Department of Justice on Wednesday, the FTC said that Easy Healthcare shared users’ health information for advertising purposes without getting express consent from the users.

A settlement between the FTC and Easy Healthcare has already been reached regarding the allegations, the company said. Though they agreed to a settlement, Easy Healthcare said it is not an admission of wrongdoing. 

“Rather, it is a settlement to avoid the time and expense of litigation and enables us to put this matter behind us and focus on you, our users,” the company wrote in a statement on the Premom website. “Rest assured that we do not, and will not, ever sell any information about users’ health to third parties, nor do we share it for advertising purposes.”

Under the settlement, the company has agreed to a $100,000 civil penalty for violating the Health Breach Notification Rule, according to the FTC. Easy Healthcare also agreed to pay a total of $100,000 to Connecticut, the District of Columbia and Oregon for violating their respective state laws.

The sharing of digital information around pregnancy has become a concern since Roe V. Wade was overturned. While HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, protects medical privacy at doctor’s offices, it does not protect information collected by third-party apps or tech companies.