State-run health care websites around America are meant to provide a simple way to shop for insurance. But they’ve been quietly sending visitors’ sensitive health information to Google and social media companies.
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State-run health care websites have been quietly sending visitors’ sensitive health information to Google and social media companies.
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When visitors respond to sensitive questions, the web trackers send that information to platforms such as Google, Snapchat, or LinkedIn.
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The tech firms whose trackers The Markup had examined said they don’t want organizations sending them potentially sensitive health data, and that doing so is against their own terms of use.
According to The Markup, the data includes prescription drug names and dosages. It was sent to tech companies by web trackers on state exchanges which were set up under the Affordable Care Act to assist Americans in purchasing health coverage and are operated independently by individual states.
It could seem innocuous to any visitor of the exchange. They’re typically asked to answer a series of questions about their health histories, purportedly in order to be presented with the most relevant information about insurance plans.
However, The Markup found that when visitors respond to sensitive questions, the web trackers send that information to platforms such as Google, Snapchat, or LinkedIn.
This has been the case on exchanges of four states: Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
For instance, Maine’s exchange, CoverME.gov, even sent the names of doctors and hospitals that people had previously visited to Google. Massachusetts Health Connector told LinkedIn whether visitors said they were pregnant, blind, or disabled.
After The Markup contacted all four exchanges for additional comments, they all stopped sending visitors’ data to tech and social media giants.
According to experts, the use of advertising trackers isn’t exactly surprising because such tools help organizations to reach visitors and tailor ads for them. Nevada, as an example, uses the trackers to help target marketing at uninsured residents.
But it’s still troubling, especially for health care services holding potentially sensitive personal data.
That's why it’s commendable – if true – that the tech firms whose trackers The Markup had examined all said they don’t want organizations sending them potentially sensitive health data, and that doing so is against their own terms of use.
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