NHS trusts shared the private information of patients with Facebook, an investigation by The Observer has revealed. A probe by the newspaper found a covert tracking tool was being used by the websites of 20 NHS trusts to collect browsing information and share it with the tech giant in a major breach of privacy.
The Meta Pixel tool passed on intimate details about patients to Facebook, including medical conditions, appointments and treatments without people’s consent. The data obtained can be used by the social media giant’s parent company, Meta, for business purposes, including targeted advertising.
According to The Observer, 17 of the 20 NHS trusts found to be using Meta Pixel confirmed they had pulled the tracking tool from their websites over the weekend. Many of the trusts said they installed the tracking pixels to monitor recruitment or charity campaigns and were not aware that they were sending patient data to Facebook.
