Your private health data may have fueled Google's ads

The post Your private health data may have fueled Google's ads appeared first on Android Headlines.

Apr 23, 2025 - 23:41

Nowadays, it’s so hard to know where your data goes after you click Submit form or Create account. That statement is especially true for the people of California. Blue Shield of California just revealed that some of its customers’ private and sensitive health data was shared with Google Analytics. This means that this data was used in targeted ads.

At this point, we don’t exactly know who was at fault here, but this isn’t a story of Blue Shield of California willingly selling data to Google to train its AI or anything. According to the company’s official announcement, the information accidentally slipped into Google’s Hands. Right now, information about this situation is still coming out. We’re sure that we’ll know more about it as time goes on. Until then, if you use Blue Shield of California, be sure to keep an eye out for any communications from the company.

Blue Shield of California reveals that it shared private health information with Google

This situation already sounds scary, but it gets even worse. As per Blue Shield of California’s explanation, the company used Google Analytics until January 2024 to track website usage of certain members who access the site. In January 2024, the company discovered something shocking.

“On February 11, 2025, Blue Shield discovered that, between April 2021 and January 2024, Google Analytics was configured in a way that allowed certain member data to be shared with Google’s advertising product, Google Ads, that likely included protected health information.“

This means that for about two years and eight months, Blue Shield unknowingly fed Google sensitive health data. According to the company, the health data included “Insurance plan name, type and group number; city; zip code; gender; family size; Blue Shield assigned identifiers for members’ online accounts; medical claim service date and service provider, patient name, and patient financial responsibility; and “Find a Doctor” search criteria and results (location, plan name and type, provider name and type).”

That’s some pretty heavy information to have leaked. After it went to Google, the company used it in ads targeted at the people who owned the information. We’re sure that most of the people didn’t know that they were seeing ads that used their personal health data. Nowadays, if you do a quick Google search for a blender, you can expect to see blender ads all over your computer screen.

Blue Shield did state that the leaked information did not include details like Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, banking information, or credit card information.

What can you do?

Blue Shield of California is advising people to take a look at their account information and contact authorities if they detect any suspicious activity. Also, you should contact the FTC if you feel like someone has accessed your account without your knowledge. Call 1-877-438-4338.

Blue Shield of California also provided several links that you can use if you feel someone has compromised your data. Be sure to check these out if you want to stay safe.

The post Your private health data may have fueled Google's ads appeared first on Android Headlines.