Data miners peering into America’s medicine cabinets

Status
Not open for further replies.

Northerner

Admin (Retired)
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Dan Abate doesn’t have diabetes. Nor is he aware of any obvious link to the disease.

Try telling that to data miners.

The 42-year-old information technology worker’s name recently showed up in a database of millions of people with “diabetes interest.” It was sold by Acxiom Corp., one of the world’s biggest data brokers. One buyer, data reseller Exact Data, posted Abate’s name and address online. It did so along with 100 others, under the header Sample Diabetes Mailing List. It’s just one of hundreds of medical databases up for sale to marketers.

Data miners have been using their tools to peek into America’s medicine cabinets this year. Tapping social media, health-related phone apps and medical websites, data aggregators are scooping up bits and pieces of tens of millions of Americans’ medical histories. Even a purchase at the pharmacy can land a shopper on a health list.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/...s-peering-into-americas-medicine-cabinets.ece

Big Brother 😱
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top