In the News
How much consumer data does Google have? In Google Struck a Deal to Secretly Access Health Data on Millions of Americans, Joel Hruska at Extreme Tech discusses how Google has access to US consumer health data due to a partnership with Ascension. Hruska details that although Google claims to have valid and consumer–focused reasons for such data use, ethical issues still arise especially given the lack of consent and disclosure of those whose data is being used. Hruska states that the lack of federal regulation over data use in the US is compromising the privacy of millions of consumers since the data isn’t even anonymized.
Our Take
Every single American consumer has a vast amount of personal data stored on various accounts and by various companie3s. It is the reality of the tech–driven world that we live in. Even if you take efforts to minimize the amount of data that you give to companies, they still have data on you, especially in the healthcare industry. This makes sense as such data should be used to better your health, but sharing health data without proper consent and anonymization is a big red flag for any company. Google is one of the major tech companies, and although they provide valuable services to everyday Americans, they should not have sensitive data on each person that those individuals did not explicitly provide themselves. Data exposure and misuse in the healthcare industry is only going to become a bigger and bigger problem, and at some point, regulation either by companies or by governments are going to need to be implemented to preserve any sense of consumer autonomy over their data.
Recommendations
How can you better protect your sensitive personal data?
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world, and only share what you have to
- Use safe password practices, and take advantage of Multi-factor Authentication where possible
- Utilize additional security/privacy measures and settings on apps, accounts, and platforms whenever possible
- Research and read a company’s data privacy practices before utilizing their services
- Know your rights when it comes to data storage both on a company and legal level