Low-income customers may not be able to afford to say no to a discount, even at the cost of personal data they would otherwise keep private, she said. Michelle De Mooy, a consumer privacy advocate at the Center for Democracy & Technology, worries that these programs have the potential to be discriminatory in their impact. They may also be at risk of having their data shared more widely than they want - or even stolen. In exchange for modest discounts, he said, patients are giving up “very, very valuable” information and leaving themselves open to a barrage of advertising about potentially sensitive health conditions. “It’s extremely concerning,” said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the nonprofit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. The trend alarms consumer and privacy advocates. How precisely? If you allow your drugstore to track your location, you might get a text offering a coupon for a specific cough syrup or recommending that you try a neti pot for sinus relief - while you’re standing in the aisle that sells cold and flu medication. But the growing practice is also a boon for their bottom line because it helps them target their marketing efforts more precisely. Exclusive analysis of biotech, pharma, and the life sciences Learn Moreĭrugstores say they’re collecting your data to encourage you to be healthy and save you money.
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