Looking Up Symptoms Online? These Companies Are Tracking You 147
merbs writes When we feel sick, fear disease, or have questions about our health, we turn first to the internet. According to the Pew Internet Project, 72 percent of US internet users look up health-related information online. But an astonishing number of the pages we visit to learn about private health concerns—confidentially, we assume—are tracking our queries, sending the sensitive data to third party corporations, even shipping the information directly to the same brokers who monitor our credit scores.
As in, (Score:2)
118.36.78.88 ---> headache
46.37.47.88 ----> slashdot beta
?
Re: (Score:1)
https://www.google.com/#q=corp... [google.com]
Trackers on Slashdot (Score:3)
When I clicked on this story, I checked my Privacy Badger listing. It showed 3 trackers operating on Slashdot:
b.scorecardresearch.com
cdn.taboola.com
googlea....doubleclick.net
I'm using Privacy Badger (from the Free Software Foundation) to block all three.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Using Ghostery. I see on Slashdot:
DoubleClick Advertising
Google AdWords Conversion Advertising
Google Analytics Analytics, Analytics
Janrain Widgets
ScoreCard Research Beacon Beacons, Analytics
Taboola Widgets, Video Player
Zedo Advertising
I block all trackers on all sites. That way nobody knows about mt STDs
Re:As in, Lung Cancer? (Score:2)
So you wondered, as a long time smoker, why you were denied a Life Insurance policy or maybe a job?
Re:As in, Lung Cancer? (Score:4, Informative)
Replace "smoker" with "diabetic", "downs syndrome parent", "thyroid issue" (obesity), etc etc...
Once that box is opened, all bets are off as to what can be denied. ;)
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Replace "smoker" with "diabetic", "downs syndrome parent", "thyroid issue" (obesity), etc etc...
Or good ol' curiosity. Whether you (the general you, not you personally) are ok with this or not when it comes to.. for lack of a better word.. dealing with people with such conditions, I think we can all agree that there is no way to tell if the person doing the searching has such conditions, or is simply curious.
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Or is researching something a family member, friend, acquantance, etc has.
I'm fortunate to be healthy as the proverbial horse, but people I know have come down with some nasties lately, and I've done some research to try to understand their conditions.
Assuming people only read about ailments they have is rather stupid.
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That's true. If a friend or nephew committed suicide or has brain cancer, there is a good chance you may google info about those items. Someone looking at your searches could easily incorrectly assume you are contemplating suicide or have been diagnosed with some disease. Perhaps people need a startup file that does 10,000 random searches on diseases, terrorism, health foods, travel to Neptune, etc. That could hide any real searches and bury legitimate results.
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Well, why should the NSA be the only ones who get to have any fun?
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Wish I had mod points. This has been one of my problems with the whole NSA scandal - it has taken eyes off of the bigger problem. Even as people think of protecting themselves from the various Three Letter Agencies, they forget about the ones that end in ".com".
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So you wondered, as a long time smoker, why you were denied a Life Insurance policy or maybe a job?
Insurance companies don't care whether you're a smoker. Their actuarial tables enable them to calculate the additional premium to ensure they still make a profit in the long run.
It's all based on statistics, not individuals.
Ebola, measles, flu, CRE... (Score:2)
surprised I'm not dead yet.
Mine must look horrible (Score:3, Funny)
Man mine must look horrible. I've looked up things from House, Grey's Anatomy, Breaking Bad (meth), things I've read about on slashdot, CNN, pretty much anything I ever was curious about.
They either think I'm a hypochondriac or that I'm a druggie with dozens of diseases and ailments.
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Well, as the time passes by and this gets outta hand the same pace it has thus far....
With that list @ year 2030 you will be considered as a "public" risk, or something similar.
And be terminated.
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Now worries, you will be replaced by an artificially intelligent bot that will be programmed to use more and buy more to in general be a better consumer.
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Yeah, same here. When I hear a term or a disease or a disorder I hadn't heard of, I usually google it, as computer or phone are usually nearby. That must have created a really eclectic list of ailments and behaviors.
A few days ago I got a letter that my doctor had retired effective immediately. Maybe she saw the list...
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Perhaps eventually we'll all run bots which search / click online randomly in order to disguise our actual movements with unusable SNR...
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Curiosity killed the credit rating.
Sensational headline (Score:5, Insightful)
Companies are tracking you. Period. Whatever you do, on whatever site. That site and its partners are tracking you — as much as you can be identified, that is. And before you blame "KKKorporations", ask yourself, why a page like this [cdc.gov] has elements from AddThis and Google Analytics...
AdBlock to the rescue. Sort of.
Re: (Score:3)
Fix: use library computers for sensitive searches.
Library computers even worse (Score:3)
I, for one, find web-browsing without AdBlock to be suffocating nowadays. Upon coming to an unfamiliar site I usually spend a few minutes to add its stable of 1x1 "images", anal ytics, and new relics to the black list. I then remove the elements (divs, headers, footers, and sections), of cruft, as well as the site's own spelling of "social sharebar".
Once only the article's text and, possibly, article-specific illustrations remain, can I get down to reading it — a luxury rarely obtained on a governmen
Re:Library computers even worse (Score:5, Interesting)
Except librarians typically are of the freedom loving kind - they see the government intrusions are doing what they can to stop them.
Your signing In on the library computers is likely destroyed by the librarians as soon as you leave, if not by the end of the day - by not having the records, it means the librarian can honestly answer that they have no idea who used it yesterday.
It's happened with book lending records - after a bunch of government requests on lender history, libraries started routinely destroying the record after the book is returned.
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Except researching symptoms of syphilis will totally destroy your chances with the cutest among them, whereas the worst a KKKorporation can do with the information is try to sell you a treatment.
They work for the government. If they are instructed to retain records tomorrow, they'll start retaining them.
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That was an excellent opportunity for you to offer citations, but, even if you have any, it may be smoke up your (and mine) eyes to make us believe, library computers are saf — because of the heroic librarians. I'd just use tor.
"RESOLVED, That the American Library Association urges all libraries to adopt and implement patron privacy and record retention policies that affirm that "the collection of personally identifiable information should only be a matter of routine or policy when necessary for the fulfillment of the mission of the library" (ALA Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights); and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the American Library Ass
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It's even simpler than that. Usually the computers are already running, and you don't need to tell anyone what you are searching for. and the next user will cover your browsing history just like you covered the history of the prior user. And there's no sign-up log. (The librarians are too busy to bother with such things.)
The only problem is you need to use a computer with MSWind installed. And usually an old browser.
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Fix: use library computers for sensitive searches.
As these are presumably run by The Government somehow, you're really not being paranoid enough.
My solution is only to browse in secondhand book shops for sensitive information. Then burn the shop down after you leave.
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"AdBlock to the rescue"
I'd also suggest something like StartPage.com, and make use of their proxied results.
A.
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What "harm"? If a syphilis-infection, for example, increases one's danger of bankruptcy, his credit score should reflect that. And if it does not have such an effect, nobody would care for that particular attribute of a profile, and thus the information brokers will not be paid for it.
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What happens when they decide being a minority carries a higher risk? (even if it doesn't)
Many corporations have an unhealthy interest in people's personal lives whether the information is objectively relevant or not.
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Well, that very much depends on whether it does or does not, does not it? The very item you chose to put into parentheses as an afterthought...
You aren't offering any citations, so it is safe to presume, you don't have any.
And for a good reason — corporations are about making money. They
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I'm pretty sure all those "whites only" and "Irish need not apply" signs were hung by businesses.
I understand some business today aren't that fond of people who are gay or use birth control.
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For better or worse such thoughtcrimes are currently illegal — we certainly aren't as free as we like to think of ourselves.
But most of other discrimination remains perfectly legal — especially based on increased risk of a disease. Ever heard of "quarantine"? Of unvaccinated [nytimes.com] children barred from schools?..
So, if kids, who are — in somebody's opinion — higher-risk, may be left without ed
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Beyond the obvious don't you think they have enough trouble, there's the little brother/stalking aspect, the lack of evidence the person looking up the disease actually has it (perhaps a friend or relative), etc.
Health information is considered significant enough to pass HIPAA. Looking at this data looks more than a little like an attempt to end run HIPAA. While not actually illegal, it is certainly questionable.
Meanwhile, note that your link about unvaccinated children applies DURING OUTBREAKS. Otherwise e
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You aren't offering any citations, so it is safe to presume, you don't have any.
Companies vetting candidates via FaceBook, et. al.?
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| Re:--> What "harm"? If a syphilis-infection, for example, increases one's danger of bankruptcy, his credit score should reflect that.
I have no doubt serious medical problems, or any number of very private factors in an individuals personal life increase their risk of default. It doesn't mean there shouldn't be a curtain that that creditors should not be able to look behind. What a person shares unwittingly may not be covered by HIPPA, but protecting people from medical discrimination is in the spirit o
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No, it is not. HIPPA is about privacy, not discrimination.
In that case, no would-be lender will be basing a decision on such flimsy item.
I'm going to guess, you are referring to the Americans With Disabilities Act here (ADA [wikipedia.org]), but, contrary to your understanding, it does
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I'd still say one primary benefit of said HIPPA privacy is that the personal information can't be used against you. I'll admit I am disappointed to find discrimination in hiring due to medical status can be legal if it doesn't qualify under ADA, GINA or Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). I'd always thought all medical info was off limits for employment screening, but I guess that is just HR keeping us from asking questions that might expose an issue in a protected category. As far as creditors being able
In defense of discrimination (Score:2)
Why are you "disappointed"? Would you like for it to be illegal for you to prefer an able-bodied babysitter for your child over someone, for whom you'd have to install wheelchair railings and lifts throughout your house?
A lender getting "burned" will have to recoup his losses by charging the rest of us slightly more. If you want to
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If syphilis increases one's danger of bankruptcy, then creditors can earn higher profits by having your credit scores reflect your syphilis status. But why should those potential profits trump your privacy?
Maybe NoScript? (Score:2)
Not perfect, nothing is... but NoScript blocks tons of these. Also double check your cookie settings, and remove anything you don't know. In fact I'm looking currently at Slashdot having 7 other sites want to give me content. I have allowed 3/8 because that is the minimum to post, and I can guarantee that every remaining connection would attempt to dump a tracking cookie in my browser.
If you want to be really bothered, try looking at CNN or Fox News with no script on. nearly 30 other sites are trying to
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For me it's NoScript, Adblock, Ghostery, BetterPrivacy and Refcontrol, on every computer, every time. Only Startpage for search. I'd love to support DuckDuckGo, but the search results aren't as effective at this point. I blackhole over 300 domains in DNS just for good measure. Google's Advertising Cookie Opt-Out plugin is useless because I clear all cookies and temp files every time I shut down. Without using TOR, that's about as good as I know how to get it. I also null route over 100 foreign /8 IP addres
how to make the internet not suck (as much) (Score:2)
http://someonewhocares.org/hos... [someonewhocares.org]
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Also the article is so general that perfectly innocent tracking can't be distinguished from malevolent tracking. Do I realize that part of Google's search ranking involves tracking visits to a page, and to eliminate spoofing will keep a pageranking from being driven by a single IP address clicker? Yes. I want and expect that.
If they are selling particular information about MY search to insurance companies, I'll be as furious as anyone else here on /. But the description of tracking in the article is s
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Companies are tracking you. Period. Whatever you do, on whatever site.
True but not everyone immediately makes the connection from "companies are tracking everything I do on the web" to "looking up the strange symptoms my friend has could result in my health insurance company raising my premiums".
Adblock Edge, or Pale Moon with Adblock Latitude. (Score:4, Informative)
By hiding what it was doing when it sneakily adopted Microsoft Bing search, calling it Yahoo search, Mozilla Foundation has done irreparable harm to Firefox. Mozilla Foundation seems to be driving users to the Pale Moon 64-bit version of Firefox [palemoon.org] with Adblock Latitude [palemoon.org].
confidentially, we assume (Score:2)
To quote Adam Savage (Score:3)
confidentially, we assume
Well there's your problem!
Are you paying these companies for access to their information database? If you're not paying, YOU'RE THE PRODUCT.
Stupid assumptions (Score:2)
. . . confidentially, we assume . . .
Why would anyone assume that? How clueless does someone have to be in 2015 to not understand that nothing on the internet is private, ever, in any way. It is a public place. Do not do anything on the internet you would not do in your front lawn.
Re:Stupid assumptions (Score:5, Funny)
There's lots of stuff I feel fine doing on my front lawn, but not on the internet. Well... felt fine. Fucking invasive Google cars show up at the most inopportune times.
Re: (Score:2)
Unimpeachable advice, if you've satisfied with having 100% of your brain devoted to the problem of what idiots with power might possibly think.
There's a name for what happens when people draw false conclusions from information they've obtained by skulking around that was never intended for their ears in the first place: it's called situation comedy.
Your advice is a prescription for madness on a global scale.
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Your sincere desire to be able to do whatever you want without fear of consequences does not change the fact that the internet is a public place, and inherently so. It cannot be made otherwise.
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Why would anyone assume that? How clueless does someone have to be in 2015 to not understand that nothing on the internet is private, ever, in any way. It is a public place. Do not do anything on the internet you would not do in your front lawn.
Even in public stalking is still illegal.
mess with their data (Score:5, Funny)
okay - everyone within 10 miles of a nuclear reactor start searching for symptoms of hallucinations of aliens and swelling in only the right pinky toe. Maybe throw in random deafness every 10 minutes lasting for 30 seconds.
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> I started complaining about symptoms of coins falling
> out of my ass and got audited the next day.
That's a new type of currency. Maybe we should call it butt-coin.
as a health care provider... (Score:1)
I'm a chiropractor. I often look up conditions patients report they, and not limited to musculo-skeletal conditions that I treat. (Did you know that syphilis can cause "brittle bone disease?" Something that's good for me to know).
Anyway, if they assign my searches to my personal profile it's probably rather confusing: I'm a 72 year old man with possible Alzheimers's, Paget's disease, acne, whiplash, maybe a victim of child abuse, Guillan Barre, fibromyalgia, who fell off a horse and dislocated my coccyx,
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Anyway, if they assign my searches to my personal profile it's probably rather confusing: I'm a 72 year old man with possible Alzheimers's, Paget's disease, ...
They are not confused. But your credit score is around minus a gazillion :-)
Re: (Score:1)
Not really about electing, one can only go along with the installation. The choices are always owned before being placed on the ballet.
Ghostery (Score:2)
Ordinary cookies are rarely a problem but web bugs can be. These can be found at slashdot. Some sites have 20 of 'em. Ghostery seems to stop them.
Google AdWords Conversion: Advertising
Google Dynamic Remarketing: Advertising
ScoreCard Research Beacon: Beacons, Analytics
WebTrends: Beacons
Re: (Score:2)
Ghostery seems good at blocking the comments at Gawker media sites. Now, I know that the vast majority of Kinja comments aren't up to the standards of /., but it would be nice to read comments some of the time...
Under the GOP system anything can get you blacklis (Score:1)
Under the GOP system anything can get you blacklisted and the ER only covers so much
I wonder... (Score:2)
It doesn't seem like there's any way to know whether I'm googling afflictions of mine or had by family members or friends. (Many of which obviously apply to the other sex.) How is that supposed to work?
HIPPA violation? (Score:2)
Since this is related to personal health issues, could they possibly be in violation of HIPPA privacy requirements?
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Doesn't webMD say something to the extent of, "This website is not intended to provide medical advice." after each page of medical advice?
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No, HIPPA doesn't cover you plastering your own information all over the internet.
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If you don't know that it's HIPAA, not "HIPPA", you are probably not qualified to say when it applies.
Say again ? (Score:2)
Why does my browser visit these websites when I only want to visit slashdot?
dice.com, fonts.googleapis.com, fsdn.com, google-analytics.com, googletagservices.com, janrain.com, ooyala.com, rpxnow.com, scorecardresearch.com, taboola.com, zedo.com ...
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That might be because you don't have Ghostery installed.
Btw. a really nice plugin to visualize all those background connections is Lightbeam: https://addons.mozilla.org/En-... [mozilla.org]
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Why does my browser visit these websites when I only want to visit slashdot?
dice.com, fonts.googleapis.com, fsdn.com, google-analytics.com, googletagservices.com, janrain.com, ooyala.com, rpxnow.com, scorecardresearch.com, taboola.com, zedo.com ...
Whew. At least it doesn't have zombo.com on that list.
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Do you also change up your computer's monitor resolution and color depth on a regular basis?
Er no, does anyone?
Use a browser that default blocks the trackers (Score:2)
Incognito mode (Score:3)
I always use Chrome's Incognito Mode when looking up symptoms from myself, and regular mode when I look up symptoms for someone else (or something I saw on TV). So WebMD might think I have an ectopic pregnancy, but they would be wrong.
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A Raspberry Pi with a fresh install works great for searching stuff. Use a public hotspot with a WiFi game adapter. Leaves no traces that can be identified. Wipe and repeat. They can set all the trackers they want. Not much globally unique on a Pi besides the Mac.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Incognito doesn't stop them from recording your IP address. Especially if they don't have any other information about you they are going to zero in on your IP address and use it to integrate the data from your previous (and future) browsing records,
Easy Fix (Score:1)
Use Ixquick. Simply go to Ixquick and search for, say, "WebMD blisters" and once results paint, click Proxy. No tracking...
How do they know it's for you? (Score:2)
National Health Service (Score:2)
Using the internet for checking health problems is just guaranteeing a self-diagnosis of cancer, in my experience.
So much for the 'age of information' (Score:2)
noscript (Score:2)
Here I was afraid they were analyzing the webserver logs. This makes it look like my habit of *NEVER* even temporarily allowing google analytics in noscript is a good one.
mark
Surprised? (Score:1)