The Federal Trade Commission said GoodRx will pay a $1.5 million penalty for its privacy practices as the FTC accused the company of sharing health information with digital advertisers such as Facebook and Google.
The FTC said this information was shared without the consent of users for advertising purposes.
“GoodRx then used that sensitive health information to target its users with health ads on users’ social media feeds. To generate those ads, GoodRx shared with Facebook and others information about its users’ prescription medications and sensitive health concerns — things like erectile dysfunction or treatments for sexually transmitted diseases. Worst of all, it failed to tell its users,” the FTC alleged.
GoodRx has also been ordered not to share health data with relevant third parties for advertising purposes.
GoodRX said it disagreed with the FTC’s findings and that it was “proactively” guarding users’ personal information. GoodRx objected to the FTC claiming that health information was shared.
“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,” the company said in a statement to Scripps News. “We are glad to put this matter behind us so we can continue focusing on being a trusted source for Americans to find affordable and convenient health care.”
The FTC is also encouraging consumers to opt out of targeted ads, if possible, check if you can customize your privacy settings, and find out if you have the right to tell the company to delete your data.
GoodRx is a digital health platform where consumers can compare prescription drug prices and get prescription drug coupons, the FTC said.