Meta's Smartwatch Raises Privacy Concerns Amid Data Harvesting History

The tech giant's plans for a new smartwatch face skepticism due to its past misuse of sensitive user data.

Published on Feb. 23, 2026

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Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is reportedly reviving its plans to release a smartwatch, but the move is facing backlash due to the company's dismal record of harvesting and misusing user wellness data. The report highlights Meta's history of collecting sensitive information, including from period tracking apps and hospital websites, without users' knowledge or consent, and then monetizing that data. Experts warn that a Meta-branded smartwatch would give the company a direct pipeline to users' intimate health and location data, which it could potentially exploit for profit or share with authorities.

Why it matters

Meta's track record of privacy violations and data misuse has eroded public trust, and the prospect of the company having direct access to users' biometric, health, and location data through a smartwatch raises serious concerns about how that information could be used. This story underscores the ongoing debate around data privacy and the need for stronger regulations and oversight of tech companies' data collection and usage practices.

The details

According to the report, Meta's smartwatch project, which was first mentioned in 2021 but then shelved, is now back on the company's agenda. The move is seen as part of Meta's broader push into the wearables market, following the success of its Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 and Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses. However, the plan to develop a smartwatch has drawn significant criticism due to Meta's history of questionable data collection and usage practices. The report highlights two specific instances where Meta was found to be harvesting sensitive user data without consent: in 2019, the period tracking app Flo was discovered to be sending information to Meta, including users' last period dates, and in 2022, a lawsuit was filed about Meta Pixel, a code embedded on websites that was sending information from the University of Cleveland Medical Hospital about patients' prescribed medications, condition diagnoses, and pregnancy terminations.

  • In 2019, the period tracking app Flo was found to be sending information to Meta (then Facebook), including sensitive information such as the user's last period date.
  • In 2021, Meta was taken to court over the Flo app data harvesting incident.
  • In 2022, another lawsuit was filed about Meta Pixel, a piece of code embedded on websites that was sending information from the University of Cleveland Medical Hospital about patients' prescribed medications, condition diagnoses, and pregnancy terminations.

The players

Meta

Formerly known as Facebook, Meta is a technology company that operates social media platforms and is now expanding into wearable devices.

Flo

A period tracking app that was found to be sending sensitive user data to Meta without consent.

University of Cleveland Medical Hospital

A hospital where Meta Pixel, a code embedded on the website, was sending patient information back to Meta without their knowledge.

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What they’re saying

“Meta built its empire on shady data collection, gathering as much information as it could through both transparent and obfuscated means, and I'm not just talking about Facebook; it's been harvesting information from medical offices and health-tracking apps without our knowledge or express permission for years, collecting details on everything from prescriptions and doctor's appointments to menstrual cycles. It's also been monetizing this information.”

— Matt Evans (techradar.com)

The takeaway

Meta's history of privacy violations and data misuse has eroded public trust, and the prospect of the company having direct access to users' intimate health and location data through a smartwatch raises serious concerns about how that information could be exploited. This story highlights the ongoing need for stronger regulations and oversight of tech companies' data collection and usage practices to protect consumer privacy.