Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., on Friday led a bipartisan group of senators in calling for an investigation into the fertility app Premom over its alleged data vulnerabilities, The Hill reports.
Earlier in August, the International Digital Accountability Council, a nonprofit consumer privacy advocate group, announced that Premom, a popular app that has more than half a million downloads, has been secretly collecting sensitive data from users on its Android app that it shares with several Chinese advertising firms. The IDAC provided the information to the Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois attorney general due to concerns that the information sharing breaks state and federal laws.
"While we understand that Premom has taken steps to update its app to halt the sharing of its users’ information with these companies, it is concerning that Premom may have engaged in these deceptive practices and shared users’ personal data without their consent," wrote the senators, who also include Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Mark Warner, D-Va.
"Additionally, there may still be users who have not yet updated the Premom app, which could still be sharing their personal data—without their knowledge or consent,” they added.
The senators ask for the FTC to confirm whether hardware identifiers are considered personally identifiable data when it comes to the enforcement of privacy laws, as well as what the agency can do in the future to prevent such practices.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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