Hims FTC lawsuit alleges health data shared with Meta and Snap

The Hims FTC lawsuit puts a high-profile telehealth brand under legal pressure over two issues that matter to customers and investors: health-data privacy and recurring charges. The Federal Trade Commission, joined by California and Utah, sued Hims & Hers Inc. in federal court, alleging the company gave advertising platforms access to sensitive consumer health information while marketing its services as private and discreet.

The complaint was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Regulators said Hims told users that its online care was private and secure, and that medical records and sensitive information would be seen only by healthcare providers involved in their treatment. The FTC alleges the company instead shared health-related user data with third-party advertising services, including Meta and Snap, without making that clear to consumers.

Hims & Hers is a publicly traded telehealth company that sells prescription treatments across several categories. The FTC said the alleged practices affected people seeking care for erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, mental health conditions, hair loss and weight loss.

Why did the FTC sue Hims?

The FTC says Hims & Hers misled consumers about privacy and subscriptions. In privacy terms, the agency alleges the company used tracking tools such as Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API, along with technologies from Google, Microsoft, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, X and other advertising partners, to send information about what users did on its platforms.

A tracking pixel is code placed on a website or app that can report user actions back to an advertising platform. In this case, regulators allege those tools captured health-related activity in ways that conflicted with Hims’ public promises about confidentiality.

Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement that the complaint describes consumers being placed into recurring subscriptions without understanding it and having highly private health information disclosed to third parties without consent. He said the FTC would act when consumers are denied control over the products they receive and the privacy of sensitive information.

What the complaint says about subscriptions

The lawsuit also targets Hims & Hers’ prescription subscription model. According to the complaint, the company promoted “free consultations” and told consumers they could decide whether a treatment made sense before buying medication.

Regulators allege many consumers were charged and enrolled in repeating prescription plans after a provider reviewed an intake form, without a separate chance to review the treatment or approve the purchase. The complaint also says Hims did not clearly show refill dates and made cancellation harder by placing cancellation options behind several menus and retention screens.

The FTC, California and Utah allege violations of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law, and Utah’s Consumer Sales Practices Act. They are asking the court for a permanent injunction, monetary relief, civil penalties and other remedies.

The FTC said it files a complaint when it has reason to believe defendants are violating, or are about to violate, the law and when a case is in the public interest. The agency also noted that the court will decide the case.

The case adds to a broader run of FTC actions involving privacy, marketing and consumer protection. The agency previously reached a $520 million settlement with Epic Games in 2022 over children’s privacy allegations, and in May announced a nearly $1 million settlement with Cox Media Group and two marketing firms over claims tied to an advertised AI-powered ad-targeting service.

This story draws on original reporting from Decrypt.