A recent article by Consumer Reports explored a controversy involving the GoodRx application, which allegedly allows consumers to obtain coupons for prescription drugs. Following reports that the GoodRx application is sharing consumers’ personal details with other internet-based companies like Facebook and Google, Consumer Reports investigated how the application operated. Consumer Reports used the application to research specific medications used to treat chronic conditions and monitored the application’s data traffic. After completing the research, Consumer Reports learned that the application was sending consumers’ personal details to a marketing firm, including the names of the medications being researched, the nearby pharmacies where prescriptions for the medications could be obtained, and personal identifiers that digital companies use to track individuals’ behavior across the internet.
While GoodRx has stated that the company doesn’t share users’ health data with other companies to support targeted advertising, this type of data and data sharing isn’t protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Unfortunately, it appears that many consumers are using GoodRx without knowing that their personal information is being shared with third party businesses or being given an opportunity to consent to the disclosure of that information. The market for this data is growing, as medical data is becoming more valuable to internet-based companies that look to use the data to target advertising to specific types of consumers. Consumer Reports also discovered that many other applications are sharing consumers’ data without their knowledge or consent, which calls attention to the need for a federal privacy law to protect consumers against unauthorized sharing of their personal information.
Last Updated on May 18, 2020 by Aimed Alliance
