Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, has been found to have transmitted sensitive personal health data to LinkedIn during a marketing campaign. This included information on pregnancy, domestic abuse, and other personal health details, according to a report by LAist. The data was collected through trackers on the Covered California website, which were part of LinkedIn’s advertising platform tools.
The trackers, known as LinkedIn Insight Tags, were used to understand consumer behavior and tailor messages. However, they inadvertently collected sensitive data, including first names, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, and health information like pregnancy status, as stated in a statement from Covered California. The organization has since turned off all advertising-related tags on its website as a precautionary measure.
Covered California operates independently within the state government, with its board appointed by the governor and Legislature. It is currently reviewing its website and information security protocols to ensure no analytics tools are improperly sharing sensitive consumer information. The LinkedIn campaign, which began in February 2024, may have tracked data for over a year.
Experts have expressed concern over the transmission of such sensitive data to a private company. Sara Geoghegan, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, described the practice as “concerning and invasive.” LinkedIn prohibits the use of its Insight Tag on pages collecting sensitive data, and a spokesperson emphasized that their ads agreement expressly forbids such practices.
Covered California has committed to sharing additional findings from its ongoing investigation and taking necessary steps to safeguard consumer data privacy.
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