Health advertising on Facebook: Privacy and policy considerations

Downing, Andrea; Perakslis, Eric D.

doi:10.1016/j.patter.2022.100561

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…On the application layer, some healthcare services were concerned with selling patient data for commercial purposes. Under the research of Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, 9 the medical privacy regulation uncertainty covers the fundamental protection to share data with the first party against the restriction to disclose the patient’s agreement.…”

Section: Privacy Of Blockchain In Healthcarementioning

confidence: 99%

Blockchain in Healthcare: 2023 Predictions from Around the Globe

Shine

Thomason

Khan

et al. 2023

BHTY

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While the past 50 years have been categorized as the Information or Digital Age, the mass amounts of digitized data has been sorely underutilized. It was only recently through the COVID-19 pandemic that accelerated efforts were sought to harness this data with the use of blockchain technology in healthcare. Through the infrastructure and its tokenization applications, we can now effectively leverage healthcare data into more efficient business processes, secure better patient engagement and outcomes all while generating new revenue streams for an array of healthcare stakeholders. It is in compiling this stockpiled data into new, compliant business models and utilizing blockchain technology that we can reap the full potential of this era. Here are some predictions as to how we might set about these efforts in 2023.

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Section: Privacy Of Blockchain In Healthcarementioning

confidence: 99%

Blockchain in Healthcare: 2023 Predictions from Around the Globe

Shine

Thomason

Khan

et al. 2023

BHTY

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“…The presence of these trackers on HIPAA covered websites is now considered a privacy breach by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission [1]. 1 In February 2022, a proof-of-concept study led by patient advocates showed the privacy and policy implications of tracking technologies for 5 diagnostic testing companies that were sharing data with Facebook without consent [2]. 2 A subsequent investigation reproduced the study method with authenticated patient portals, showing that sensitive health and legally-protected information was being shared with Meta (the parent company of Facebook).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 In February 2022, a proof-of-concept study led by patient advocates showed the privacy and policy implications of tracking technologies for 5 diagnostic testing companies that were sharing data with Facebook without consent [2]. 2 A subsequent investigation reproduced the study method with authenticated patient portals, showing that sensitive health and legally-protected information was being shared with Meta (the parent company of Facebook). Specifically, the study found that 30 of the top 100 hospitals had shared protected health information (PHI) with Meta [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Banned Tracking Technology Use Among Medical Device, Pharmacy, and Hospital Webforms: A Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

Downing,

Holdren

2024

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Tracking technologies are frequently employed to gather and examine data regarding user interactions with websites or mobile applications of regulated health-related entities. These technologies then illegally share user data with third parties that use it to target ads to patients across social media platforms. This collection and sharing constitutes a data leak of massive proportions. Specifically, some pharmacies, medical device companies, and hospitals utilize banned tracking or surveillance technologies on their websites in a way that exposes patients’ prescriptions, medical device information, doctor appointments and contact details to third parties. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the use of prohibited tracking technologies on unauthenticated URL’s within three types of entities: pharmacies, medical companies, and health systems. METHODS We identified the largest-by-revenue medical device companies, pharmacies, and hospitals in the United States, using a scanning tool we developed based on existing open source software to detect the presence or absence of five banned tracking technologies on a sample of them. RESULTS In total, we included 341 URLs associated with three different types of HIPAA covered entities in our scan sample. Medical device company (n= 147) webpages comprised 43.1% of our overall sample. Pharmacy webpages (n=96) comprised 28.2% of our sample, and hospitals/health system URLs (n=98) comprised 28.7% of our sample. 63.9% of the medical device company URLs scanned contained at least one banned surveillance technology. 59.2% of pharmacy URLs scanned had at least one banned surveillance technology installed. 59.8% out of hospital URLs scanned contained at least one banned surveillance tracker. The most common tracker found on medical device company sample was Google Audience (39.5%), followed closely by Facebook Pixel (36.1%) There were a number of device companies, pharmacies, and hospitals scanned that had none of the banned trackers. n=53 URLs or 36.1% did not have any banned trackers identified. 40.8% (44) of pharmacies did not have any trackers. 67.0% of hospital URLs scanned did not have any trackers identified. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates the presence of health trackers on many health-related sites despite the laws that prohibit them, and further examines the ways PHI may be shared with social media platforms or third parties via unauthenticated landing pages. Future studies are needed to assess the impact of leaking sensitive data belonging to millions of patients to third party vendors. CLINICALTRIAL n/a

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“…Yet, each piece of data represented in these large data sets begins with individuals who may be unaware of how their data are being used for secondary purposes. In fact, in a small study of companies offering services to patients with cancer, the companies found themselves unaware that they were exposing information about patients they serve through Facebook via cross-site tracking middleware [ 3 ]. Additionally, with the advanced technological methodologies available today, reidentification of individuals within large data sets is increasingly possible [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commitments for Ethically Responsible Sourcing, Use, and Reuse of Patient Data in the Digital Age: Cocreation Process

Okun¹,

Hanger²,

Browne-James³

et al. 2023

J Med Internet Res

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Background Personal information, including health-related data, may be used in ways we did not intend when it was originally shared. However, the organizations that collect these data do not always have the necessary social license to use and share it. Although some technology companies have published principles on the ethical use of artificial intelligence, the foundational issue of what is and is not acceptable to do with data, not just the analytical tools to manage it, has not been fully considered. Furthermore, it is unclear whether input from the public or patients has been included. In 2017, the leadership at a web-based patient research network began to envision a new kind of community compact that laid out what the company believed, how the company should behave, and what it promised both to the individuals who engaged with them and to the community at large. While having already earned a social license from patient members as a trusted data steward with strong privacy, transparency, and openness policies, the company sought to protect and strengthen that social license by creating a socially and ethically responsible data contract. Going beyond regulatory and legislative requirements, this contract considered the ethical use of multiomics and phenotypic data in addition to patient-reported and generated data. Objective A multistakeholder working group sought to develop easy-to-understand commitments that established expectations for data stewardship, governance, and accountability from those who seek to collect, use, and share personal data. The working group cocreated a framework that was radically patient-first in its thinking and collaborative in the process of its codevelopment; it reflected the values, ideas, opinions, and perspectives of the cocreators, inclusive of patients and the public. Methods Leveraging the conceptual frameworks of cocreation and participatory action research, a mixed methods approach was used that included a landscape analysis, listening sessions, and a 12-question survey. The methodological approaches used by the working group were guided by the combined principles of biomedical ethics and social license and shaped through a collaborative and reflective process with similarities to reflective equilibrium, a method well known in ethics. Results Commitments for the Digital Age are the output of this work. The six commitments in order of priority are (1) continuous and shared learning; (2) respect and empower individual choice; (3) informed and understood consent; (4) people-first governance; (5) open communication and accountable conduct; and (6) inclusivity, diversity, and equity. Conclusions These 6 commitments—and the development process itself—have broad applicability as models for (1) other organizations that rely on digitized data sources from individuals and (2) patients who seek to strengthen operational policies for the ethical and responsible collection, use, and reuse of that data.

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Health advertising on Facebook: Privacy and policy considerations

Cited by 8 publications

References 6 publications

Blockchain in Healthcare: 2023 Predictions from Around the Globe

Blockchain in Healthcare: 2023 Predictions from Around the Globe

Banned Tracking Technology Use Among Medical Device, Pharmacy, and Hospital Webforms: A Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

Commitments for Ethically Responsible Sourcing, Use, and Reuse of Patient Data in the Digital Age: Cocreation Process

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