Meta Pixel

Investigation reveals Meta Pixel tool passes on private details of web browsing on medical sites.

Usually installed to monitor recruitment or marketing campaigns but are you aware what patient data is sent to Facebook.

This tool collects granular details of:

pages viewed
buttons clicked
keywords searched

This is likely to include special category health data as they research their condition or self-refer.

This data is matched to the user’s IP address – an identifier linked to an individual or household – and in many cases details of their Facebook account.

Special Category Data has extra protection in law and is defined as information “about an individual’s past, current or future health status”, including medical conditions, tests and treatment and “any related data which reveals anything about the state of someone’s health”. Using or sharing it without explicit consent or another lawful basis is illegal.

As Meta Pixel do not provide tools for that patient to opt in or out of sharing this data or options for explicit consent, we advise that this is not applied to your website.