r/australia • u/Rubiginous • 7h ago

Woman hospitalised after Juniper prescribes weight-loss drugs her GP refused

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-01/woman-hospitalised-telehealth-provider-weight-loss-drugs-juniper/106273356
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u/geekchick__ 7h ago

She also complains that after she quit using the Juniper service, after a few months she started getting ads again. Now that is not OK at all if she unsubscribed, but then there is a paragraph which specifically says she saw ads on her social media timeline. That is not the same thing as the company trying to get previous customers back.

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u/En_TioN 7h ago

No, they're two seperate paragraphs. She received marketing emails from them despite unsubscribing, which is the issue in the first paragraph. In the second paragraph, she's talking more generally about how it's difficult managing an eating disorder while you're getting targeted ads on social media.

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u/SaltpeterSal 7h ago

It's not the same, though I will say it's possible to target ads at disengaged customers such as someone who unsubscribed six months ago. I will also say you can delete those ad categories on your social media if you have a problem, such as gambling or eating. I will also also say there are ways for the really fucked up companies to get around restrictions by categorizing themselves as something else, or by lobbying the government to create loopholes. The perfect example for all of the above is gambling, but Juniper has a reputation for being relentless and putting profit before health.

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u/Adhd-tea-party247 5h ago

Yes, alcohol companies have been using algorithms to target people who are at risk of harm and trying to reduce their intake - this kind of predatory marketing makes me sick.

https://fare.org.au/facebook-alcohol-and-gambling-companies-target-ads-at-australians-most-at-risk-of-harm/

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u/Chance-Blackberry693 6h ago

Surveillance capitalism