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[ARTICLE · art-136167] src=consumerrights.wiki ↗ pub= topic=ai-ethics verified=true sentiment=↓ negative

Healthline

Healthline Media, Inc. was ordered to pay $1.55 million in civil penalties under a California CCPA settlement announced by California Attorney General Bonta on July 1, 2025, the largest such settlement to date, over the company's failure to offer consumers an opt-out of targeted advertising and its sharing of user data suggesting a person may have a serious health condition. The settlement also bans Healthline from revealing that a consumer may already have been diagnosed with a medical condition. Healthline, founded in 1999 as YourDoctor.com and acquired by Red Ventures in July 2019, states on its "ABOUT US" page that "In some cases, Artificial Intelligence (AI), or similar technology, may be used in developing elements of our content.

by read3 min views6 publishedSep 21, 2026

Undid revision 68190 by ~2026-1924 (talk) Reverting vandalism.

| ← Older revision | | Revision as of 17:35, 21 September 2026 | |

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| | | | |Founded=1999 | | | | | |ParentCompany=Red Ventures | | | | | |Website=https://www.healthline.com | | | | | |Description=Healthline is a health information provider that uses AI-generated content and has been known to publish misinformation. | | | | | |Industry=Health Information|Type=Subsidiary|Logo=Healthline_logo.svg}} | | | | | '''{{Wplink|Healthline|Healthline Media, Inc.}}''' is an American website and provider of health information. It was founded in 1999 as YourDoctor.com. In July 2019, the company was acquired by {{Wplink|Red Ventures}}. |

|  |  |  | ==Consumer-impact summary== | 
|  |  |  | {{Ph-C-CIS}} | 
|  |  |  | ==Incidents== | 
|  |  |  | {{Ph-C-Inc}} | 

| | | | This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]]. | | | | | === Violating California's CCPA (2025.07.01) === | | | | | On 01 July 2025, the California Attorney General announced in a press release that they have reached a settlement with Healthline over the company's violation of the {{Wplink|California Consumer Privacy Act}} (CCPA). In an investigation conducted by the California DOJ, Healthline violated the CCPA by failing to provide consumers with the option to opt-out of targeted advertising and sharing user data to third parties without implementing "CCPA-mandated privacy protections". This shared data also included suggesting that a person may suffer from a serious health condition. The settlement resulted in $1.55 million in civil pentalties and banning the company from revealing that a consumer may have already been diagnosed with a medical condition.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-01 |title=Attorney General Bonta Announces Largest CCPA Settlement to Date, Secures $1.55 Million from Healthline.com |url=https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-largest-ccpa-settlement-date-secures-155 |url-status=live |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260220183155/https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-largest-ccpa-settlement-date-secures-155 |archive-date=20 Feb 2026}}</ref> | | | | | ===Usage of AI generation=== | | | | | In their "ABOUT US" page they mention: <blockquote>In some cases, Artificial Intelligence (AI), or similar technology, may be used in developing elements of our content.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ABOUT US |url=https://www.healthline.com/about/about-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260106172359/https://www.healthline.com/about/about-us |archive-date=2026-01-06 |access-date=2026-01-06 |website=Healthline}}</ref></blockquote>Medical information is a highly delicate matter and AI which is known to quite frequently "hallucinate" can generate bogus information which may mislead a potentially vulverable person to make a life threatening decision. | | | | | ===Rejecting cookies restricts site access=== | | | | | Like many websites, Healthline asks for [[Web cookie|cookies]] upon accessing the site. Upon clicking on "Reject All", the user is taken to a "Anon" page which includes only 10 articles. On the same page they expain their reasoning:<blockquote>We believe that health information should be free to everyone and we rely on advertising to make this possible on our family of websites Healthline, Medical News Today, Greatist, and Psych Central. Providing the best health information in the world is expensive. We spend up to thousands of dollars per article to ensure it is accurate and precise with quality review by a doctor or other certified, trained medical professional.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Healthline |url=https://anon.healthline.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260106172359/https://anon.healthline.com/ |archive-date=2026-01-06 |access-date=2026-01-06 |website=Healthline}}</ref> </blockquote> | | | | | ===Publishing misinformation===<!--somebody with medical knowledge please fill this up | | | | | a few bs articles that spread misinfo: | | | | | https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coffee-worlds-biggest-source-of-antioxidants | | | | | https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/weight-loss-tea | | | | | https://www.healthline.com/health/best-ashwagandha-supplements |

|  |  |  | https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-anti-inflammatory-foods--> | 
|  |  |  | ==Products== | 
|  |  |  | {{Ph-C-P}} | 
|  |  |  | ==See also== | 
|  |  |  | {{Ph-C-SA}} | 
|  |  |  | ==References== | 
|  |  |  | {{reflist}} | 
|  | [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] |  | [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] | 
|  | [[Category:Health]] |  | [[Category:Health]] | 

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LIVE [news/healthline] indexed:0 read:3min 2026-09-21 ·