FTC Sues Hims & Hers for Sharing Data With Meta, Snap
The Federal Trade Commission sued Hims & Hers on Wednesday, accusing the telehealth company of sharing customers' sensitive health data with Meta and Snap for advertising purposes despite promising users their medical information would stay private. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, was brought jointly with the state of Utah and Los Angeles County, following an investigation the FTC opened in October 2023.
The agency alleges that Hims & Hers used tracking technologies on its website, including tools provided by Meta, to monitor how customers interacted with the platform, and that it shared customer lists with third-party advertisers. The company treats conditions including erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, hair loss, and mental health issues, and the FTC argues that customers had been led to believe that information would never leave the company's control.
"Hims was only able to create audiences with such specificity because it flouted the promises it made to its users about treating their medical conditions 'privately' or keeping their health information private," the agency said in its complaint. Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the commission would not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers deprived of their ability to keep sensitive health information private.
The complaint also alleges that Hims & Hers billed customers for prescriptions almost immediately after they submitted an online intake form, before a healthcare provider had reviewed their case. Most customers, the FTC said, never receive a consultation at all before being charged.
The agency further alleges the company made subscriptions difficult to cancel. The FTC is pursuing claims under the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, Utah is alleging violations of its Consumer Sales Practices Act, and Los Angeles County is citing California's false advertising and unfair competition laws. The commission voted 2 to 0 to authorize the filing.
Hims & Hers rejected the allegations in a post on X, saying the lawsuit "disregards substantial evidence" provided during the FTC's nearly three year investigation and "contorts the law to try to manufacture claims." The company said the case was "not enforcement grounded in consumer protection" but "an effort to generate headlines at our expense."
On the data sharing claims specifically, the company did not issue a direct denial, saying only that "customers have the information they need to make informed decisions about their care and the use of our services" and that its privacy policy allows users to choose how their data is used.
Shares of Hims & Hers fell between 12 and 15 percent following the news. The company, founded in 2017 and publicly listed, has grown into one of the largest telehealth providers in the market for weight loss medications, offering virtual consultations and prescriptions that are shipped directly to consumers.
The case follows a string of regulatory actions targeting health apps over data sharing practices, including a 2021 FTC settlement with the period tracking app Flo over similar sharing of user data with Facebook and Google, and a more recent California jury verdict against Meta over its collection of menstrual health data through the same app. Hims & Hers has also faced separate scrutiny in recent months over its Super Bowl advertising and its marketing of compounded weight loss drugs.
Hims & Hers said it intends to contest the lawsuit. The case is pending in federal court in California.
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