GoodRx signage on the surface of the Nasdaq on the day of its IPO, September 23, 2020.
Source: GoodRx
The Federal Trade Commission proposed to completely bar prescription drug comparability website GoodRx from sharing customers’ well being knowledge with third events for promoting functions, the company mentioned Wednesday.
In a “first-of-its-kind proposed order,” the FTC additionally mentioned it is imposing a $1.5 million civil penalty for allegedly violating the company’s Health Breach Notification Rule. Under the settlement, GoodRx is required to restrict how lengthy it holds onto private and well being data of customers, and to ask third events to delete client well being knowledge shared with them.
The FTC alleged GoodRx shared private well being data, together with consumer prescription medicines and private well being situations, with firms like Facebook, Google and Criteo since at the very least 2017, regardless of guarantees to not present consumer knowledge to advertisers or third events. The company additionally claims GoodRx used private well being knowledge to focus on its customers with personalised advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. For instance, based on the FTC, GoodRx in 2019 uploaded to Facebook an inventory of data from customers, who bought sure medicines, in an effort to goal them with advertisements.
GoodRx mentioned in a press launch that it disagrees with the FTC’s allegations and does not admit wrongdoing. It mentioned that the settlement permits the corporate to keep away from costly and time-consuming litigation and that the settlement “will have no material impact on our business.”
“The settlement with the FTC focuses on an old issue that was proactively addressed almost three years ago, before the FTC inquiry began,” GoodRx mentioned, including that it made updates to safeguard consumer security earlier than it was contacted by the company.
GoodRX shares had been up 3.5% on Wednesday to $5.79. The inventory has misplaced greater than three-quarters of its worth up to now 12 months.
GoodRx mentioned in a weblog put up that medical data weren’t shared by its use of the Facebook pixel, the code web sites use for promoting. Even so, GoodRx mentioned, it “led the industry by removing the standard Facebook Javascript pixel almost three years ago.”
FTC Commissioners voted 4-0 to refer the proposed order to the Department of Justice to file it on the FTC’s behalf.
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