HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Connecticut will receive $33,333 of a $100,000 settlement from an ovulation app that shared users’ data — including information about location — with Chinese companies, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced on Wednesday.
Connecticut joined Oregon and Washington, D.C. in the settlement with Easy Healthcare Corporation over the Premom app. The app tracks ovulation and includes a menstrual calendar.
Tong said concerns with raised about the app after the International Digital Accountability Council flagged it in August 2020.
Tong’s announcement emphasized that the apps aren’t required to follow HIPPA.
“Given the intimate health data that apps like Premom collect and what that may reveal about when a pregnancy starts or stops, it is critical that user information is kept safe and private,” Tong said in a written announcement. “Our settlement forces Easy Healthcare to adopt strict privacy requirements to ensure that its users’ information is appropriately protected.”
The app was accused of sharing location data and “device indicators” with two companies based in China, and did not appropriately disclose to users that it was doing so. Tong said the app has since stopped using the software development kits that shared the information.
As part of the settlement, Easy Healthcare has agreed to implement measures such as only collecting personal information for legitimate purposes, that it must disclose its information collection practices, that it won’t share location information with third parties without consent and that it must create a way for users to request that the app delete their personal information.