Penalty Amount
$100,000
The FTC charged Easy Healthcare Corporation, operator of the Premom fertility app, with deceiving users by sharing their sensitive health data with third parties for advertising without consent and failing to notify breaches as required by the Health Breach Notification Rule. Under a proposed consent decree, the company will pay a $100,000 civil penalty, be barred from sharing health data for advertising, and must implement privacy and security measures.
Easy Healthcare must pay a $100,000 civil penalty, is permanently prohibited from sharing user personal health data with third parties for advertising, must obtain user consent before sharing for other purposes, retain data only as necessary, seek deletion of shared data, send consumer notices, and implement comprehensive security and privacy programs.
In-house legal teams should review all agreements involving the handling of consumer health data, including vendor contracts (with analytics/ad partners like AppsFlyer and Google), customer terms of service/privacy policies for the Premom app, and any data processing agreements. Key clauses to scrutinize are: data sharing/licensing provisions (to ensure no authorization for advertising use), consent mechanisms (to verify explicit, informed consent for health data processing), breach notification requirements (to confirm compliance with the Health Breach Notification Rule's timelines and content), data retention and deletion terms, and security obligation clauses. Changes likely needed include: adding explicit prohibitions on using health data for advertising, implementing granular consent options for health data sharing, updating breach notification procedures to meet HBNR standards, and strengthening security and audit rights.
Entity
Easy Healthcare Corporation
Also known as: Easy Healthcare
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ovulation-tracking-app-premom-will-be-barred-sharing-health-data-advertising-under-proposed-ftc
2023186easyhealthcarestipulatedorder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2023186easyhealthcarestipulatedorder.pdf
2023186easyhealthcarecomplaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2023186easyhealthcarecomplaint.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Easy Healthcare Corporation"
"will pay a $100,000 civil penalty"
"Health Breach Notification Rule"
"The Federal Trade Commission charged that the developer of the fertility app Premom deceived users by sharing their sensitive personal information with third parties, including two China-based firms, disclosed users’ sensitive health data to AppsFlyer and Google, and failed to notify consumers of these unauthorized disclosures in violation of the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR)."
$100K
Connecticut, Oregon, and the District of Columbia reached a $100,000 settlement with Easy Healthcare Corporation, the operator of the Premom ovulation tracking app, for sharing sensitive user health and location data with third parties without appropriate disclosures or user consent. The settlement requires the company to implement comprehensive privacy and security programs, obtain consent before sharing health or location data, and provide users with a method to delete their personal information.
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$1.9M
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