The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing healthcare giant Hims & Hers in a California federal court for allegedly sharing customers’ sensitive medical and health information with advertising platforms like Meta and Snap, whilst misleading the public about its data privacy practices.
How Hims & Hers Allegedly Shared Patient Data
The legal action marks the federal consumer watchdog’s latest crackdown on digital health platforms that transmit confidential patient information to third-party advertisers without explicit consent. As a publicly traded company, Hims & Hers manages vast volumes of highly sensitive personal information, offering prescriptions for weight loss, mental health, sexual wellness, and other intimate medical conditions.
To track user behaviour and optimise marketing campaigns, online businesses frequently embed tracking codes on their platforms. These snippets of code transmit user activity back to advertising networks to build detailed consumer profiles.
The Role of Meta and Snap Pixel Trackers
According to the FTC’s official complaint, Hims & Hers integrated pixel-sized tracking scripts from Meta, Snap, and other major tech firms, including Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, and X. The regulator asserts that these trackers actively captured and transmitted users’ private health interactions, directly violating the company’s own published privacy guarantees. Furthermore, the FTC claims the healthcare brand utilised Meta’s advanced analytical tools to monitor specific clicks and navigation paths taken by visitors on its website.
Deceptive Billing and Cancellation Obstacles
Beyond the severe data privacy allegations, the federal regulator has accused Hims & Hers of engaging in deceptive billing practices. The lawsuit claims that the telehealth provider designed complex, restrictive policies specifically engineered to prevent customers from easily cancelling their paid subscriptions, violating established federal consumer protection laws.
Hims & Hers Vows to Fight the Allegations
In a public response published on its investor relations website, Hims & Hers did not directly deny the specific operational claims made by the FTC. Instead, the firm argued that its current privacy policy clearly outlines how users can manage and choose how their personal data is utilised. Expressing confidence in its legal standing, the company confirmed its intention to vigorously defend itself against the regulatory allegations in court.
A Broader Crackdown on Telehealth Privacy Failures
This lawsuit is part of a broader, ongoing campaign by the FTC to police the digital health sector. The regulator has previously penalised several prominent platforms, including mental health startup Cerebral, alcohol recovery service Monument, digital therapy provider BetterHelp, and discount prescription platform GoodRx, for similarly deploying tracking pixels that leaked sensitive patient details to external advertisers.
The widespread use of invisible tracking pixels continues to expose systemic vulnerabilities regarding how personal data is harvested online. Often, improper configurations on corporate websites lead to massive, unintended data leaks. For instance, in 2024, a TechCrunch investigation revealed that the US Postal Service was inadvertently transmitting the physical home addresses of logged-in portal users to Meta, LinkedIn, and Snap via tracking pixels. The postal service removed the offending tracking codes shortly after the vulnerability was brought to light.