TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s an app that can save you hundreds of dollars on prescription medications, but there could be a downside. You might be paying with your personal information.
Millions of people have downloaded the GoodRx app. The price comparisons and coupons it provides can save money on prescription drugs that otherwise could not be affordable for many patients, especially those without insurance.
But while people are saving money with the GoodRx app, a consumer reports investigation finds the app is sending personal details about its users to more than 20 other internet-based companies.
“Our investigators in the Consumer Reports Digital Lab looked at GoodRx, and found the app and the company’s website sends 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 individual people,” says Thomas Germain with Consumer Reports.
Braze says the data collected is not shared with data brokers or advertising companies. Both Google and Facebook deny using prescription information for targeting individuals with ads.
In light of the investigation — GoodRx reps say they will not share personal medical information with Facebook. GoodRx also says it is 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.
You 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 they have coupons that might get a lower price.
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