Facebook rolls out new preventive-health tool — and vows strict privacy safeguards

Facebook just launched a new preventive-health tool, but its success may depend on whether the company can regain people’s trust. The tool — which people can access by typing “preventive health” into the search bar on Facebook — will prompt users to enter their gender and age to then reveal a list of care recommendations including blood pressure tests, Pap smears, and mammograms. A map feature also allows users to find the closest government-funded clinic or pharmacy for a flu shot. But Facebook is still facing fallout from months of controversy over its handling of user data and misinformation on its platform. The company vowed not to share data from the new tool with third parties and said that activity won’t be visible to other Facebook users.