Santa Monica-based prescription drug savings platform GoodRx Holdings Inc. last week agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine to settle federal allegations that it shared customer information with third-party advertisers.
In agreeing to pay the fine, GoodRx said in a statement that it had addressed the issue of sharing of customer data three years ago and admitted no wrongdoing. The company said that it was only paying the fine to avoid a costly litigation process.
GoodRx operates a digital platform that allows customers to comparison price shop for prescription drugs and offers prescription drug discounts with more than 70,000 participating pharmacies nationwide. The company also has platforms for telehealth visits, disease and health condition treatment information and other health services.
The allegations were contained in a lawsuit filed in Northern California federal district court by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission; the filing was made public on Feb. 1.
In the filing, the commission argued that GoodRx violated its privacy policies and shared medical and prescription drug data of its customers with advertiser platforms – including Facebook, Google and Criteo – going back to at least 2017.
The FTC also alleged GoodRx failed to disclose this sharing of data to its customers, violating the commission’s Health Breach Notification Rule. The commission noted that this represented the first prosecution under the 2009 rule.
The filing contained an order that requires GoodRx to cease sharing disclosing customer health information with certain third-party platforms and requiring customer consent for sharing of data with any other third parties.
“Digital health companies and mobile apps should not cash in on consumers’ extremely sensitive and personally identifiable health information,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release accompanying the filing. “The FTC is serving…
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