The Federal Trade Commission has initiated legal proceedings against healthcare provider Hims & Hers. The agency accuses the company of transmitting customer medical and health details to advertisers and major technology firms including Meta and Snap. It also alleges misleading statements regarding privacy practices.

This action represents the latest effort by the federal consumer watchdog to address healthcare firms sharing sensitive details with external entities without customer awareness. Hims & Hers operates as a public company offering prescription treatments for sexual wellness, mental health, weight management and related concerns, thereby managing substantial volumes of private patient information.

Businesses often install code on websites to gather customer insights and relay user details to advertisers such as Meta and Snap. This enables the platforms to identify site visitors and their activity patterns.

In a complaint submitted to a California federal court, the FTC stated that Hims & Hers implemented pixel trackers from Meta, Snap and additional firms including Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit and X. These tools captured and transmitted health-related user information in ways that contradicted the company's stated privacy policy. The FTC further claims the company leveraged Meta tools to monitor user clicks and interactions on its site.

The FTC also charged Hims & Hers with deceptive billing practices and policies that hindered customer cancellations, breaching federal consumer protection statutes.

Hims & Hers issued a statement on its site without directly refuting the FTC claims. It asserted that its privacy policy clarifies user options for data usage and expressed confidence in its stance while indicating plans to contest the allegations.

The FTC has pursued similar cases against entities such as telehealth firm Cerebral, alcohol recovery service Monument, data company GoodRx and therapy provider BetterHelp. These involved accusations of sharing patient data via websites with third-party technology and advertising companies.

Pixel trackers have exposed instances of sensitive information being relayed to code providers, often due to configuration errors leading to unintended collection.

In 2024 reports indicated the U.S. Postal Service shared logged-in user addresses with Meta, LinkedIn and Snap through pixel code, which was subsequently removed.