These Popular Health And Fitness Apps Shared Highly Personal Data With Facebook

Privacy is a big issue for users of the social network Facebook. The company has been called out for violating the privacy of users multiple times and faces fines that could be in the billions from the FTC. While Facebook will shutter one of its apps for privacy issues, called Onavo, there are still multiple third-party apps that collect all sorts of highly personal data, and shares that data with Facebook.

Late last week a report surfaced that called out several apps that were sharing data on the health and fitness of users without permission.

Four of those apps have stopped sending sensitive data, such as the weight of users and information on women's menstrual cycles, to Facebook. Apps noted by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as having stopped sending sensitive data after its investigation, as of Sunday, included the Flo Period and Ovulation Tracker from Flo Health Inc. and the Azumio Inc. Instant Heart Rate: HR Monitor.

Weight loss and food tracking app Lose It! has also stopped sending data to Facebook. Previously that app had been sending information to Facebook about weight gained or lost, and the calorie content of every food item logged in that app. Facebook itself has reportedly been reaching out to developers of apps after the WSJ report and telling them that it was against the rules to send Facebook sensitive data about users.

Facebook also noted it was working on automated systems that would detect and block the upload of sensitive user data from third-party apps. The social network is said to have told at least one major developer that it needed to ensure it had legal justification for the user information it was sending Facebook via the SDK the social giant provides for apps.