data sharing

Legal

Lawmakers Are Cracking Down on Companies Using Health Data for Advertising

Three senators recently introduced legislation that would ban the use of health data for advertising and marketing purposes. The proposed legislation comes amid media reports claiming that data brokers are selling social media companies patients' location data, as well as reports that hospitals and digital health startups are collecting patients’ online data and sharing it with tech giants such as Facebook and Google.

Legal

GoodRx Illegally Sold Users’ Data to Google & Facebook, FTC Says

GoodRx failed to notify users that it sold their personal health information to Google, Facebook and other tech companies, the FTC claimed. The agency filed an order that prohibits GoodRx from sharing its users' data with third parties for advertising purposes and requires the company to pay a $1.5 million penalty. GoodRx agreed to pay the settlement but did not admit to wrongdoing.