FTC sues Hims & Hers for allegedly sharing patients' health data with Meta and Snap
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against healthcare company Hims & Hers, accusing it of sharing patients' medical information with advertisers including Meta and Snap without consent, along with deceptive billing and difficult cancellation policies.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Hims & Hers for allegedly sharing customers' medical and healthcare information with advertisers like Meta and Snap, as well as for misleading privacy practices. The complaint, filed in a California federal court, claims that Hims & Hers placed pixel-sized trackers provided by Meta, Snap, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, and X on its website. These trackers allegedly captured and shared users' health information, violating the company's own privacy policy.
Hims & Hers, a publicly traded company, provides prescription medications for sexual wellness, mental health, weight loss, and other conditions, handling a large volume of sensitive patient data. The FTC also accuses the company of deceptive billing and making it difficult for customers to cancel subscriptions, in violation of federal consumer protection laws.
In response, Hims & Hers did not explicitly deny the allegations. The company stated that its privacy policy "makes clear" that users can choose how their data is used and expressed confidence in its position. Hims & Hers said it plans to defend against the FTC's claims.
The FTC has previously taken similar actions against telehealth startup Cerebral, alcohol recovery provider Monument, data giant GoodRx, and therapy provider BetterHelp, all for sharing sensitive patient data through website trackers. These cases highlight how pixel trackers can lead to unintended data collection.
In 2024, TechCrunch reported that the U.S. Postal Service was sharing logged-in users' home addresses with Meta, LinkedIn, and Snap via pixel tracking code, which was removed shortly after.
