GoodRx and your personal data
It’s an app that can save you hundreds of dollars on prescription medication, but there could be a downside.
A new Consumer Reports investigation found that the GoodRx app shares personal data with Google, Facebook, and another company.
The Consumer Reports Digital Lab looked at GoodRx and found the app and the company’s website sending personal information, including the names of drugs that consumers were looking at, to Facebook, Google, and a company called Braze, along with other details that could be used to identify people.
Braze told Consumer Reports that the data collected wasn’t shared with data brokers or advertising companies.
Google and Facebook deny using prescription information to target individuals with ads.
After Consumer Reports published its findings, GoodRx said it wouldn’t share personal medical information with Facebook.
It also said that it was careful with consumer data, and that it makes most of its revenue through referral fees collected when consumers fill prescriptions using a GoodRx coupon, rather than advertising.
Consumers may still want to use GoodRx to save money.
But if you’re worried about using it, there are other ways to find more affordable prescription drugs.
You can ask your doctor about generic options, and be sure to ask your pharmacist if he or she has coupons for lower prices.
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