Your Health Data Is Being Tracked and Sold—Data Collection Extends Beyond Hospitals

Have you thought about your health data privacy and that of your older family members? Health data isn't confined to hospitals and clinics anymore. If you use a smartwatch or fitness app or search for symptoms online, your personal health information is likely being tracked—often without your full awareness.​

This data can end up with advertisers, insurance companies, and data brokers. It's not just tech-savvy individuals at risk; residents in long-term care facilities and their families are also affected.​

To protect this data, some individuals even turn to data removal services in hopes of reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

Implications for You and Your Loved Ones

• Targeted Advertising: Health-related searches can lead to intrusive ads, especially for medications or treatments.​
• Insurance Profiling: Data brokers build profiles that insurers may use to adjust premiums or coverage.​
• Loss of Control: Residents in care facilities might not realize their health information is being tracked by tools meant to assist them.​

Your loved one's fitness tracker or symptom-checker app might be sharing sensitive information with unknown companies.​

Sources of Health Data Collection

• Wearables and Health Apps: Devices like Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Garmin track various health metrics and may share data with third parties.​
• Online Symptom Searches: Searching symptoms online leaves a digital trail that can be sold to data brokers.​
• Care Facility Technology: Electronic health records, telehealth platforms, and medication management tools used by caregivers can transmit data across networks.​

This can be scary. Have you ever experienced pain and Googled what it might mean? Most of us turn to Google (or another search engine) when experiencing a new symptom for the first time.

You search one symptom, and suddenly your feed is flooded with ads for medications and treatments you’ve never asked for. It’s like your private worry becomes public property.

These searches create a digital footprint that marketers and data brokers can track. Remember those weirdly specific ads after just one Google search? Depending on a website's privacy policies, they might share this information with third-party websites, using your health information for targeted ads.

Sure, the ads might be helpful, but you may not want your information shared in the first place. And if you’re searching on behalf of a friend or relative, third parties often assume the need is yours—not theirs.

These technologies track your family's health decisions and potentially sell that data.​ Data brokers collect and sell health-related information from multiple sources.

These businesses collect data from wearables, internet searches, and medical records to build full customer profiles. Insurance and pharmaceutical companies often buy this data to improve marketing efforts or might be used in underwriting, which could affect premiums or eligibility for coverage.

Long-Term Care Residents and Families at Risk

In assisted living facilities and nursing homes, technology like electronic health records and telehealth tools can expose sensitive data. Residents may use wearable devices or health apps recommended by staff or family, which might not be protected under federal health privacy laws.​

People assume HIPAA covers everything, but it doesn't. Most health apps and even some systems used in senior care settings operate outside HIPAA protections.

Long-term care facilities often enter agreements with third-party services that track or transmit patient data, sometimes without clear transparency on data storage or sharing.​

Impact on Long-Term Care Planning

Long-term care is costly. Most health insurance, including Medicare, doesn't cover extended custodial care. Many families turn to Long-Term Care Insurance to help cover these expenses.​

According to the LTC News Cost of Care Calculator, the national average monthly cost for assisted living is over $4,800 (before surcharges). In-home care averages over $5500 a month, and nursing home care can exceed $11,000 a month, depending on where you live.

"People don't think about how health data may affect Long-Term Care Insurance premiums or the ability to obtain coverage," said Linda Weyer, a long-time long-term care planning specialist.

But in the digital world, every search, every wearable, and every app leaves a record.

Steps to Protect Your Health Data

• Limit App Permissions: Review and restrict app permissions, especially for location tracking and background data collection.​
• Use Privacy-Focused Search Engines: Consider using DuckDuckGo or Startpage for health-related searches.​
• Read Privacy Policies: Understand how apps and websites handle your data before using them.​
• Review Wearable Settings: Adjust settings on devices to limit data sharing with third parties.​
• Inquire About Facility Data Practices: Ask care providers how they use, store, and share data collected through digital tools.​

Need for Greater Transparency

Privacy experts advocate for expanded oversight beyond traditional healthcare settings.​

Experts say the law hasn't kept up with the technology. Until there's better enforcement and clearer rights for consumers, many experts suggest you need to take matters into your own hands.

Even laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Europe's GDPR don't fully cover all health data generated by apps or devices.

Meanwhile, HIPAA protections apply only to covered entities like hospitals and insurance providers—not to the wellness apps many families use daily.​ Canada’s system is fragmented: PIPEDA covers private organizations, while public health systems fall under provincial laws. There’s no uniform “right to erasure” nationally. Australia’s Privacy Act applies to most health service providers, including digital ones, but small entities under $3 million in annual turnover may be exempt unless they handle health data. GDPR is the most comprehensive and applies broadly to any organization processing personal data of EU residents, including digital tools and web activity.

What You Can Do Now

Whether you're caring for a loved one or planning for your own future:​

• Discuss privacy when introducing technology into caregiving.​
• Choose long-term care providers transparent about digital practices.​
• Consider Long-Term Care Insurance before you have health issues that can impact your ability to obtain affordable coverage. Most people acquire an LTC policy in their 40s or 50s before significant health problems arise and your health history is widely shared online.​

Technological developments improve the efficiency and accessibility of healthcare, but they also put personal privacy in danger. You can proactively protect your information by knowing how health data is collected, shared, and sold.

You can use data removal services to limit where your or your loved one's health information appears online.​

Final Thoughts

Health technology can enhance quality of life but also poses privacy risks. While you can't stop the digital shift, you can make informed choices.​

Your data is valuable. Ensure you're the one deciding how it's used. you can search for health questions online while avoiding tracking, but you need to take specific steps to protect your privacy.

Here's how:

Use Privacy-Focused Search Engines

These search engines don’t track your searches or store your personal information:

• DuckDuckGo
  Doesn’t save search history or create a personal profile. It also blocks trackers on websites you visit.
• Startpage
  Offers Google-powered results but strips out all personal identifiers—so Google never sees your IP address or search terms.
• Brave Search
  Part of the Brave browser ecosystem, it offers independent, ad-free results with no tracking.

Use Private Browsers or Privacy Modes

• Use "Incognito" or "Private" mode
  While not foolproof, this prevents your browser from storing cookies or history.

Note: Your internet provider and search engine can still see your searches unless you take additional steps.

• Use privacy-first browsers
  Try Brave, Tor, or Firefox with strict tracking protection.

Add These Tools for Extra Protection

• Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network)
  A VPN hides your IP address and encrypts your traffic. This means your internet provider, apps, or trackers can’t tie searches to you.
• Install anti-tracking browser extensions
  Tools like Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin, and DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials help block invisible trackers on health sites.

Bonus Tip: Don’t Search Logged In to Google or Bing

• Log out of accounts tied to your identity before searching.
• Use a separate browser profile or guest mode for health-related searches.

The bottom line is if you're searching for sensitive health topics—whether for yourself or a loved one—you don’t have to sacrifice your privacy. Stick with privacy-based tools and change a few habits, and your digital footprint can stay your business.