*

Google to pay $48 million, Flo to pay $8 million

*

Meta Platforms ( META ) found liable by jury, damages not set

*

Flo app users say their data wrongly used for advertising

By Jonathan Stempel

Sept 25 (Reuters) - Google and app developer Flo Health

will pay $56 million to settle a class action claiming they

violated the privacy of millions of Flo app users by collecting

information about their menstrual health cycles, and using it

for targeted advertising.

Settlement terms were disclosed late Tuesday night in San

Francisco federal court, and require approval by U.S. District

Judge James Donato.

Google, a unit of Alphabet, would pay $48 million,

while Flo would pay $8 million. Flurry, a now-defunct mobile

analytics company, settled for $3.5 million in March.

A fourth defendant, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta

Platforms ( META ), did not settle, and was found liable by a

jury on August 4 after a two-week trial.

Meta is expected to appeal the verdict. A hearing to

consider damages is scheduled for September 30. Google settled

two weeks before the trial began, and Flo settled shortly before

the trial ended. Both denied wrongdoing.

Flo app users alleged that between November 2016 and

February 2019, Flo shared personal information related to their

menstrual periods and pregnancies with the other defendants,

despite promising to keep it confidential.

They said this violated the California Invasion of Privacy

Act, which carries statutory penalties of $5,000 per violation,

theoretically justifying billions of dollars in damages.

Meta declined to comment on Thursday. Lawyers for the

plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is Frasco et al v Flo Health Inc et al, U.S.

District Court, Northern District of California, No. 21-00757.