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US healthcare marketplaces shared citizenship and race data with ad tech giants

US healthcare marketplaces shared citizenship and race data with ad tech giants

ZeidJ

Comments (124)

  • TallGuyShort
    I used a state (Colorado) healthcare marketplace website when I was going to take a break between jobs for a couple of months, and I feel very violated by the whole process. I entered a bunch of information to the website, knowing that the data could be expected to be shared for quotes, but I got no quote. The information didn't just flow between systems, it was just sent directly to a bunch of individuals. Instead of getting anything useful from the website, I just got told that agents would contact me, and then literally hundreds of agents were calling and texting me at all hours of the day and night for weeks. I asked one of them how to get it to stop and they said it was impossible during the government shutdown.
  • levocardia
    The actual "sharing" was using the Meta pixel and TikTok's equivalent, presumably so the healthcare exchanges could do retargeting or similarity-based marketing to get people to sign up for health care coverage. Which, narrowly, seems like a reasonable thing to do. But of course using the pixel automatically "shares" the data with Meta/ByteDance/whoever, and they get to use it for whatever nefarious purpose they want.
  • wewtyflakes
    It should be illegal to send the data, and illegal to accept it; burn both sides of that bridge.
  • downbad_
    The richest tech companies and richest men in the world got rich by invading people's privacy and selling invasive ads.
  • deferredgrant
    This is especially bad for public services because trust is already fragile. People should not have to worry that applying for healthcare also enrolls them in a tracking graph.
  • zx8080
    For someone not familiar with the US legal system, something is not clear here: if that's Meta/Facebook tracking via pixel, than why it's not possible to sue them for it?Or if that tracking is considered legal in this particular case - WHY?
  • krior
    Can someone from the US explain what race even means in this context and how it is determined?
  • offmycloud
    I'm still surprised by the number of web developers who do not understand that, once you include someone else's Javascript on your site, they have full access to everything on your site, including all submitted customer data.
  • ZeidJ
  • Pacers31Colts18
    This is nothing new. They do the same with drivers license data.
  • tantalor
    > whether they provided details about whether they have incarcerated family membersOkay. That's not much of a signal, is it? This is "metadata" level of detail.
  • fusslo
    > Nearly all of the 20 state-run health insurance exchanges in the US have added advertising trackers that transmit user activity...why?> State officials say they embed this technology on the exchanges to measure marketing campaigns and to advertise to people who visit their sitesWhat an absurdist reality we live in> Tara Lee, a spokesperson for the Washington state exchange, said the tracker on the site was used for advertising campaigns, adding that email, phone and country identifiers were shared with TikTok.https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-healthcare-advertisi...Personally, I feel local government should not be engaging these services in this way. I don't feel that it's a wise use and that our government employees should be more protective of the public who use their services.
  • lava_pidgeon
    Cookie Banner isn't such a bad idea now
  • kittikitti
    From my experience working with health data, HIPAA laws are utilized to generate leverage against whoever the gatekeepers want. There's no expectation of privacy for anyone with HIPAA, it's a failed policy meant to intimidate. They hold up a disguise that it's very hard and strict and enforce these regulations to punish whoever they deem unworthy. Usually, it's big corporations targeting competition with needles lawsuits.I've seen unfathomable abuses in HIPAA privacy laws. Some of it is was for my own health records. If you only knew how bad it was. I can't detail it all because their lawyers will bully and intimidate me like they already have.HIPAA was a way to provide surveillance of your health. Corporations, governments, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, or even a petulant child that annoys a parent who's a doctor has access to everyone's health records. The public sentiment on HIPAA laws is just so backwards.
  • alucardo
    "race data"... this isn't a thing, this should not be a thing. am i the only one being shocked?
  • xp84
    I’m more annoyed that these government healthcare marketplaces are asking people their race in the first place. Really don’t think anything should be, including job applications.
  • josefritzishere
    How is this not a HIPAA violation?
  • 59percentmore
    Oh, I bet they fucking did.That's it, that's the comment.
  • shevy-java
    The US citizens will have to fight down those corporate overlords. It is now really just shameful how they leech off of the common man (and common woman). People in democracies outside of the USA shake their head in sadness now. Even Canada is doing better here - don't tell anyone the crazy orange king, for he may begin to potty-mouth and threaten them with invasion again.
  • tamimio
    US isn’t a country, it’s an economic zone run by few corporates, who bribe and push law makers to pass whatever laws they like, everyone is winning except the citizens of that “country”.
  • mistrial9
    anecdata - in Berkeley CA, in the late 2010s, two individuals showed up to be in the fast-paced AD scene. One was from a former Soviet Union country, who spoke English pretty well .. and the other a woman from Columbia .. to say that both of these two were "aggressive" is an understatement. He spoke English, she was in charge of "security" .. after a very few meetups, they both formed a company for "Ad tech for Hospitals" .. it was "heavy security" they said, and therefore did not discuss any details in public. They very obviously would do "aggressive" actions to get into the business, defeat competitors, and satisfy ..clients? Who were they satisfying with the cultural norms, constantly aggressive stance, move fast and break things approach? Every single person involved had the motivation of Big Money, Now.