Facebook could be tracking your online Plan B or HIV test purchases
Twelve of the largest drug stores in the U.S. sent shoppers’ sensitive health information to Facebook or other platforms.
Twelve of the largest drug stores in the U.S. sent shoppers’ sensitive health information to Facebook or other platforms.
I'm yet to find a single thing about leaving facebook that makes me regret it. What a terrible website
The fun thing is that even if you’re not there, they have a shadow profile to track you
I sometimes pop in to use marketplace but even with a burner account I activate every privacy extension I can find like some sort of full body condom
Marketplace and local communities are the only use
How is this not a HIPAA violation?
It is. Pharmacies like CVS fall under covered entities, and must adhere to HIPAA regulations.
The article discusses this.
In these cases, a pixel on the pharmacy website is being downloaded by your IP address. I don’t think there’s anything there would constitute PHI (Protected Health Information) under HIPAA.
In isolation, this data means nothing. But these massive companies can easily link an IP address to a person. And each pixel has a different URL, which identifies what page is calling it (eg, the page that says you’ve added an HIV test to your cart).
The results of the test would be covered by HIPAA, as would any test administered by a doctor or in a hospital setting. But in a pharmacy only prescriptions are covered by HIPAA - anything non-prescription is unprotected.
So if you're privacy conscious and using something like NextDNS to block pixels and other shady tracking mechanisms at the DNS level, all's good? When I left Facebook back in 2016, I started with Pihole, but I like NextDNS because it's easier to use when not at home and I can manage profiles for family members easily in case to do find something they "need" to work. Why people willingly want to see ads is beyond me.
HIPAA requires you to know about it to make a complaint. Also, corporations may not count as healthcare providers, so they sneak through a loophole.
None of this is correct. HIPAA obligations are not contingent on a complaint, and being incorporated absolutely is not incompatible with being a healthcare provider.
They could be? Or of fucking course they are.
Who else except boomers are still using Facebook? Like really?
What I know is some craftsmen and small workshops only use Facebook to do their businesses. If you are interested in their work and want to contact them, you can only do that through Facebook. They don't have websites nor blogs, sometimes don't show their email to the public. I don't know why but maybe they want to be selective.
I think for some it is just easier - they don't need to get their nephew to build a janky website, or cut into their profit by having someone build a decent one.
The older blokes in particular probably aren't worried or even aware of the issues with Facebook. For them, it's just a place to share pics of their grandkids visiting and boomer memes etc.
Even with the younger crowd - when I move, which is every few years, I often find new hairdressers on Facebook; few bother with a website. They're already on there and it's a great way to show their work to a wide range of potential clients.
Almost no one is going to a website every few weeks to check out updates from their favourite artisans, but they will scroll through a social feed and often interact with the posts.
I use it to sell things, but that's literally it. Legitimately the only things it's good for at this point. And every time I go on there I'm reminded of how terrible it is. Actually nauseating.
Same, I got burnt out on social media partway through the pandemic and just stopped checking FB one day after I turned off app notifications because I got fed up at being buzzed constantly for non-direct-interaction reasons. I feel like it's been a very positive change. I also only go there to sell stuff and I'm glad I feel absolutely zero desire to look at the feed at all.
What got me off Facebook was their fucking algorithm. Any time I said anything slightly controversial, like suggesting Trump was being less than honest, Facebook would make sure everyone I knew who disagreed saw it. For EnGaGeMeNt!
After a few engagement blowups, I barely use Facebook anymore. And now when I check, my feed is so full of ads and sponsored posts, and has precious little content from actual friends, that it's just not worth the headache.
