Privacy Concerns Grow as Pharma Uses Data to Target Consumers
The practice is known as a matchback. Data brokers buy prescription records from pharmacy benefit managers and then use algorithms to substitute patient names with numerical codes, Bloomberg writes. Then, they work with websites to transform the data, and drug makers pay the websites to match the information. Consumer codes are then used for sending customized ads.
There is concern this is undoing protections provided by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, according to Bloomberg. The news service says websites and data firms exist in a legal blind spot, as HIPAA applies to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, insurance companies and their contractors.
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) are the CVS Healthcare & Express Scripts of the world… did you ever wonder why there are so many discount Rx cards and coupons (www.goodrx.com) floating around… your discount allows them to sell your personal health data for major $$$… Because their bottom line health is everything !
Filed under: General Problems
Is nothing sacred anymore?
Do you think Walgreens wants you to use its “balance rewards” card to save you money, or to track everything you buy?
All of these store discount/reward cards, reward credit cards, even magazine subscription are sold to these data brokers.. They probably know more about a individual than you remember about yourself. Remember all of these large companies are about making money.. that rebate/discount or reward is just bait on a hook..