Why You Probably Shouldn’t Search the Internet for Health Symptoms
The first thing most of us do when we have cryptic pain or other health problem is to ask Dr. Google. However, this can be a terrible mistake, not only for your privacy, but also for your financial future.
Motherboard describes the risks associated with Google searching for symptoms and reading information about them on sites such as WebMD and Mayo Clinic. Basically, this is an old problem where everyone is tracking us on the Internet , but in this case, tracking can be especially harmful.
The problem is that even trusted sites like WebMD send health data to data brokers like Experian, which in turn packs up all the other data it collects about you, including your credit history, for sale to others. companies.
“Experian is a data broker well known for selling credit ratings, including bankruptcy information,” said [Tim] Liebert, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. “Scientific research by Senator Elizabeth Warren has shown that more than 60 percent of bankruptcies are related to medicine. Given that I found Experian tracking users on thousands of health-related web pages, it’s possible that the company does more than just know why people went bankrupt. for medical reasons, but also when they first went online to inquire about their illness. Essentially, Experian can trace a person from her first sneeze to her last unpaid hospital bill. ”(Experian did not respond to requests for comment.)
[EFF Tech Cooper] Quintin agrees that this poses a real threat. “I would say it is quite possible.” He suggests that it is likely that the medical data these brokers collect could eventually feed into your credit score – and even be used to determine how much you pay for medical care.
This is all speculation, but the truth is, we don’t know how data brokers and insurers use sensitive data, even if it’s just Internet searches.
If you need to find any medical symptoms, your best bet is to use the tracker blocker add-on while you’re at it. Let’s check a few options here .
Looking for symptoms on the internet? These companies are watching you | Motherboard