Privacy concerns raised as Facebook tracks NHS users' activity

Department of Health admits NHS Choices web site shares data with Facebook

The NHS is providing at least four firms, including Facebook and Google, with patient information "every time a user visits one of the 'conditions pages' on the NHS Choices web site", according to a security blogger.

Facebook tracks activity on its NHS ‘Like' button and its Facebook Connect service using business analytics.

This means that if a user has logged into a Google or Facebook account – then navigates to the NHS site without logging off, both will be made aware of the content the user is viewing on the NHS web site.

"The NHS is sharing this information out liberally and the users don't know it and couldn't opt out of sharing even if they did," said Mischa Tuffield, the security expert and blogger who discovered the link.

MP Tom Watson has now contacted health minister Andrew Lansley in an effort to stop this information being distributed.

Meanwhile, The Department of Health claims that its privacy policy does comply with the Data Protection Act.

The department added that people should log out of Facebook properly, not just close the window, in order to ensure no inadvertent data transfer.