UT Southwestern Medical Center sent patient data to Facebook, investigation finds
UT Southwestern Medical Center’s website has a tool that can track and collect patient data in order to share it with Facebook, according to an investigation published Thursday by The Markup and Stat News.
The Dallas-based health system has a tracking tool, called Meta Pixel, installed on its home page, according to the investigation. Meta Pixel is stored on sites across the internet, and records packets of data when someone visits a web page. The tool can track you as you navigate to different pages on a web site. Tools like Meta Pixel are the reason why someone searching for vitamins online might later see an ad for vitamins while scrolling Facebook or Instagram.
The investigation found that the hospitals had, in some cases, tracked sensitive patient information like a patient’s contact information, allergies, prescription medications, and even the procedure or health concern they were seeking more information on.
In a statement, UT Southwestern said it had removed the tool’s functionality from online appointment scheduling “while under review.”
“UT Southwestern takes seriously all concerns related to privacy,” according to the statement. “While under review, we have removed the Meta Pixel functionality from online appointment scheduling options.”
The health system did not answer additional questions from the Star-Telegram about how long it has had Meta Pixel installed on its website or whether it informed patients that their data could be shared with third parties.
The investigation reviewed the websites of the 100 hospitals deemed the best in the U.S. by Newsweek magazine, which included UT Southwestern Medical Center. Other hospitals that did not make the top 100 list were not included in the investigation; those institutions could also be sharing patients’ data with Facebook and its parent company, Meta.
The report was co-published by The Markup, which investigates technology, and Stat News, a newsroom that covers health and health care. The reporters found that of the 100 hospitals they reviewed, 33 had the tracking tool installed on its website. Houston Methodist Hospital also had Meta Pixel installed on its appointment scheduling page, the investigation found. The hospital removed Meta Pixel from its website after responding to the Markup’s questions. Two other Texas hospitals reviewed by reporters — Baylor University Medical Center and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center — did not have the Meta Pixel tracking tool installed on their appointment scheduling page.
Experts interviewed by the news organizations said the hospitals using the tracking tool could be in violation of patient privacy laws by sharing patients’ data with Facebook. Hospitals and health care providers are not allowed to share a patient’s private information when it is linked to an identifier. In this case, the data was linked to an IP address, which functions a little like a computer’s location or mailing address and can be used to identify an individual or household.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:51 PM.
