Privacy safeguards a person’s ability to shape their identity and relationships free from unwanted intrusion, even in public spaces. The recent ruling by the California jury against the alleged collection of sensitive data raises concerns around intimate privacy. Collection, sharing, and monetizing of intimate data can prove to be the next compliance fault line for businesses. Global frameworks and legislations are setting rigorous baselines for personal data. Sooner than later, they are bound to be stretched to govern categories still thought too personal or too sensitive to formalize. Companies that understand and adapt to this overlap early will not only reduce regulatory and reputational risks but also turn privacy into a trust-based market advantage. 

When Privacy Gets Personal 

Going beyond the generic definitions of “sensitive data”, intimate privacy covers information that can expose private life in deeply personal ways. From reproductive choices and mental health to sexual orientation and genetic fingerprints, these data points cannot afford to be mishandled. Therefore, non-compliance here can trigger lawsuits, regulatory orders, class-action exposure, and reputational fallout. Here are some of the major threats that put intimate data in the high-risk category: 

• Health Data Leakage: The Meta-Flo case reveals how reproductive health data can be collected and shared without explicit consent. Cycle dates, pregnancy intentions, and sexual activity logs are intimate by nature and likely to trigger regulatory enforcement and litigation in case of misuse or leakage. 
• Identity Exposure via Adtech: Dating apps have been fined for exposing users’ sexual orientation by combining advertising identifiers. Even without names, the linkage between unique IDs and behavioral patterns qualifies as sensitive personal data under most privacy frameworks. 
• Monetization of Mental Health Data: Online therapy and telehealth providers can face legal ramifications by targeting specific diagnoses and treatment-seeking behaviors for advertising. This category of data often falls under both health privacy rules and special-category protections, meaning misuse invites overlapping regulatory actions. 
• Location Data as an Intimate Inference Tool:  Precise geolocation data can reveal visits to reproductive health clinics, LGBTQ+ venues, or shelters. Even anonymized location trails can reveal intimate data when correlated with sensitive activities. 

Rewriting the Data Privacy Playbook 

Around the world, laws and regulators are converging on stricter treatment of data. We have seen laws that have special categories for intimate information and require a lawful basis, opt-in consent, or even tighter controls before processing it at all. Here’s how businesses can ensure intimate privacy for their customers

• Expanding Data taxonomy: Add first-party and inferred intimate categories (e.g., cycle/pregnancy intent, mental-health signals, clinic visits from location,  etc.). Treat these as “highest sensitivity” everywhere you operate. 
• Tighten consent mechanics: Use explicit, unbundled, revocable consent for intimate data. Default to opt-in for minors (parental consent under 13, youth opt-in 13–15 in CA) and avoid dark patterns. Keep a clear record of sensitive data consent. 
• DPIAs for high-risk use cases: Any large-scale processing of special-category data, innovative tech (e.g., AI), geolocation tracking, biometrics, or invisible processing should trigger a DPIA before launch. 
• Audit cross-border vendors and flows: Map where intimate data (and inferences) travel. Perform Transfer Impact Assessments, and layer SCCs with supplementary measures where needed. 
• Respect user controls: Honor rights to limit sensitive data use (e.g., CPRA “Limit the Use of Sensitive PI”) and provide portable copies or deletion without degrading core service.  

The Next Frontier in Data Protection 

Intimate privacy is, definitely, a challenge for data protection frameworks worldwide. What was once considered “too personal to regulate” is now under strict scrutiny. For businesses, this convergence of intimate privacy and broader data privacy measures is reshaping the compliance landscape. Those that proactively integrate intimate privacy into their privacy playbooks will not only reduce exposure to lawsuits and regulatory penalties but also transform privacy into a strategic differentiator.