GoodRx Fined by the FTC for Sharing Consumer Health Data with Google and Facebook

On Wednesday, the FTC alleged that the digital health service, GoodRx, repeatedly shared consumer health data with Google, Facebook and other advertising platforms without its users’ knowledge or consent.

The FTC is hitting GoodRx with a $1.5 million civil penalty for “violating the agency’s Health Breach Notification rule,” CNBC reported.

The complaint claims in one case, GoodRx created campaigns catered to users based on their health information to run on Facebook. The ads featured medications specific to the users’ health conditions, making the sensitive information visible to Facebook.

GoodRx, however, disagrees with the allegations made by the FTC. In a press release, the company stated, “We do not agree with the FTC’s allegations and we admit no wrongdoing. Entering into the settlement allows us to avoid the time and expense of protracted litigation. We believe that the requirements detailed in the settlement will have no material impact on our business or on our current or future operations.”

Additionally, GoodRx claims it made updates almost three years ago regarding users’ safety. “While we had used vendor technologies to advertise in a way that we believe was compliant with all applicable regulations and that remains common practice among many health, consumer and government websites, we are proud that we took action to be an industry leader on privacy practices.”