Google announces Flo Health partnership, defends privacy after $56m settlement

Google said it is working hard to sync Google Health with Flo for deeper insights, using trackers such as the Fitbit Air to collect data and Google Health to organize and surface it, possibly with the AI chatbot Google Health Coach premium service. During the presentation, Google said Flo has spent more than a decade earning the trust of women.

That trust has been tested by a high-profile lawsuit against Flo, Google, and Meta. In a consolidated case, representatives of Flo app users between 2016 and 2019 alleged that sensitive period-tracking information was shared by Flo to Google and Meta without users' knowledge or consent through Flo's in-app software development kits. Reuters reported that Google and Flo settled out of court for a combined $56 million, with an additional $3.5 million from the now-defunct mobile company Flurry. Meta chose not to settle and was found liable for violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act, according to court documents, and its attempts to overturn the motions were denied.

TechRadar asked Google what additional privacy assurances it could make given the case. Google responded that Google Health Coach onboarding incorporates explicit consent informing users that shared third-party app data is used specifically to deliver personalized coaching. Google also said its Google Health Coach algorithms are designed not to log or store sensitive women's health-related events, and ongoing monitoring ensures AI responses remain aligned with sensitive communication standards. Google reiterated that it will not use Google Health information for Google Ads. Its blog post says no data will move between the apps without explicit permission, given separately for each type of data and each purpose, and users can withdraw permission at any time. Flo data shared with Google Health will never be used for advertising, never be sold, and will not be made available to other apps or developers through Google's health platforms, according to Google.

According to Google, its algorithms are not logging or storing sensitive health data, so its AI is not being trained on that information. Because the data will not be used for Google Ads, Google says it will not use Flo information to personalize ads. Data will not be sold or moved between parties without consent. Still, the companies' controversial partnership history may deter some users from using their women's health tracking features, and the earlier case showed how opaque data processing can be. Users concerned about their data can withdraw consent, view which third parties have access to their health information through Google's Privacy Checkup page, and remove third parties' access.