Under-fire Facebook tried to get major hospitals and medical groups to share patient data, according to US reports.
According to CNBC, a doctor was sent on a so-called “secret mission” to ask top hospitals to share patient information, including illnesses and prescriptions, for a proposed research project. Those talks were reportedly underway up until March this year.
Facebook reportedly wanted the information so it could match it with user data already collected, to help hospitals determine which patients might need special care or treatment.
The plan aimed to obscure identifiable information, including the names of patients, however the project raised privacy concerns.
The project has since been put on hold, according to a Facebook spokesperson.
“Last month we decided that we should pause these discussions so can focus on other important work,” the spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
“(That includes) doing a better job of protecting people’s data and being clearer with them about how that data is used in our products and services.”
Facebook under fire
It follows revelations this week by the social networking juggernaut that more than 87 million Facebook users may have had their data accessed by political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.
Cambridge Analaytica, a data-mining firm that has done work for US President Donald Trump, has been accused of harvesting user profiles to help influence elections.
Up to 311,000 Australians, or one in 50 Facebook users, may have been affected. That admission by Facebook has prompted Australia's privacy commissioner to launch an investigation.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify during two US congressional hearings next week over the privacy scandal. Controversies over fake news and alleged Russian election meddling are also on the agenda.
Mr Zuckerberg’s company this week outlined a raft of new protections, including restricting access for third party apps and deleting phone and text logs after a year.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admits it will take years to fix the social media giant's privacy concerns. (AAP) Source: AAP
"We have to make sure that all those developers protect people's information, too. And it's not enough to have rules requiring they protect the information, it's not enough to believe them when they tell us they are protecting information,” Mr Zuckerberg said on Thursday.
Facebook also acknowledged it is likely to take years to solve its privacy problems.
