Facebook Wants To Track User's Prescription Drug History For Ads

Site partners with company that has information on 70 million American households.

Facebook and privacy haven't always had the best relationship, but this week it's getting even rockier. 

Hoping to sell more targeted ads, Facebook has partnered with data-mining company Datalogix which tracks trends between online advertising and consumer behavior. Datalogix has information on 70 million households through loyalty card memberships, like the CVS Extracare card.

Facebook and Datalogix say they will not be sharing users information with each other, but instead create generic profiles to show what kind of person buys certain products. The information in turn will be used by Facebook to show companies what type of ads work best.

The Atlantic is reporting that such a relationship could lead to an abuse of power and violation of privacy. The FDA has strict guidelines on how pharmaceutical companies and advertise and socialize online. They have to disclose all of a drugs side effects as well as its benefits. If they are granted access to users Facebook information, they can essentially spy on them and then target them with information about their new drugs, but do so indirectly.

If this sounds like a privacy concern for you, you can opt out of Datalogix' database by clicking here.