The US Federal Trade Commission has sued telehealth company Hims & Hers, alleging it shared customers’ sensitive medical and healthcare information with advertisers including Meta and Snap without their knowledge. The case matters because the company handles highly personal data relating to sexual health, mental health and weight loss, and it forms part of a wider regulatory push against health businesses’ use of advertising-tracking technology.

The FTC alleges Hims & Hers embedded tracking pixels from Meta, Snap, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit and X on its websites, allowing health information and users’ website activity to be captured and shared despite its stated privacy policy. It also accuses the company of deceptive billing and cancellation practices; Hims & Hers said users can choose how their data is used and that it will defend itself. Similar FTC actions have previously targeted Cerebral, Monument, GoodRx and BetterHelp over alleged sharing of sensitive patient data.