In 2015, a digital advertising company used 'geofencing' to send ads to people who visited various reproductive health care clinics in cities such as New York City, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. Geofencing is a common marketing tactic in which mobile devices that enter certain locations of interest are digitally tagged. Advertising companies can then use that location data to send targeted ads and/or, potentially, sell that data to other entities. The Massachusetts Attorney General, concerned about consumer protection, prohibited this practice around Massachusetts centers for reproductive health. (Office of Attorney General Maura Healey, 2017)
In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint against Flo Health, Inc. Per the complaint, over 100 million consumers had downloaded Flo Health's period-tracking app, which promised users that the business would only share data unrelated to "marked cycles, pregnancy symptoms, notes and other information that is entered by you and that you do not elect to share." Despite these privacy promises, the app shared information with Facebook, Google, and other third parties. (Federal Trade Commission, 2020)