HeHealth推出的AI驱动应用Calmara声称能快速、保密地进行性健康筛查，但遭到联邦贸易委员会（FTC）的调查后已关闭。该应用让用户上传生殖器照片以检测性传播疾病，被指缺乏科学依据，存在隐私和准确性问题。

🔍 Calmara应用宣称利用AI技术，可快速、保密地检测超过十种性传播疾病，准确率高达94%。然而，FTC指出其依赖的研究存在缺陷，且训练AI模型的数据未经诊断测试验证。

🚫 FTC的调查发现，HeHealth支付了研究作者，且主要研究仅评估了四种性病而非十种。此外，Calmara无法区分非活物，甚至无法正确识别性病的“教科书图片”。

🔐 应用在隐私和同意方面也存在问题，尽管宣传需要“明确同意”，但有视频显示其向女性推广，用于审查约会对象，引发同意疑问。

🏥 HeHealth的另一款应用也使用相同AI，作为用户联系医疗提供者的初步步骤。公司同意在7月15日前关闭两款应用，并删除所有通过应用或支付供应商获取的个人信息。

⚠️ FTC发出民事调查令，要求提供Calmara广告声明和隐私实践的信息，并警告HeHealth在没有“可靠科学证据”的情况下宣称健康益处是非法的。

HeHealth’s AI-powered Calmara app claimed, “Our innovative AI technology offers rapid, confidential, and scientifically validated sexual health screening, giving you peace of mind before diving into intimate encounters,” but now it’s shut down after an inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The app prompted daters to submit dick pics to check for sexually transmitted diseases, promising “clear, science-backed answers about your partner’s sexual health status,” according to an FTC letter dated July 11th. The letter lays out some of the agency’s concerns with the information HeHealth relied on for claims, including one saying that it could detect more than ten sexually transmitted infections with up to 94 percent accuracy.

Screenshot: Calmara (YouTube)

The FTC notes that HeHealth paid several study authors, that the main study cited by the company only assessed four kinds of STIs rather than ten, and data used to train the AI model included images from users who never got a diagnostic test to confirm the results.

Given that most STIs are asymptomatic, according to the World Health Organization, medical professionals have questioned the reliability of the app’s tactics. One Los Angeles Times investigation found that Calmara couldn’t even discern inanimate objects and failed to identify “textbook images” of STIs. YouTube videos also show that Calmara marketed itself to women to vet their dates, creating obvious questions about consent, although a March press release insists the app required “explicit consent.”

The HeHealth app, which uses the same AI, marketed itself more as an initial step for individuals before connecting with a medical provider.

The company agreed to shut down both of the apps by July 15th, and Calmara’s website and links to the HeHealth app appear to be offline. The company also agreed to delete all personal information from customers obtained through the apps or payment vendors and request those vendors to delete any data on their customers, the FTC said.

But articles describing the app and videos from Calmara that remain on YouTube as of Tuesday show that it gave users signals of whether genitals were “clear” or whether a user should hold off on sexual activity with a partner due to signs of a possible STI. At one point, according to reports, the company marketed the app as “Your intimate bestie for unprotected sex.”

“The hardworking staff of the FTC are so committed to protecting consumers that they are even willing to wade through pages of dick pics to protect Americans from AI scammers,” a source familiar with the matter, granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment on the record on the investigation, told The Verge.

The FTC issued a civil investigative demand (similar to a subpoena) seeking information about Calmara’s advertising claims and privacy practices and put HeHealth on notice that it’s illegal to make health benefit claims without “reliable scientific evidence.”

HeHealth did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.

The FTC said it would not pursue the investigation further since HeHealth agreed to those terms, and because of “the small number of Calmara users and sales in the U.S.” But, it warned, “The Commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require.”