Re:Mental-health information 'sold to advertisers'
by gchamonlive on Wednesday September 04, 2019 @12:20PM
(#20878674)
> They're just ordinary websites with ads and other tracking cookies.
This is an interesting take. It means that for information to be sold to third parties it must be explicitly negotiated and delivered, through contractual means, as if it were a product sold with invoices emitted.
What actually happens is virtually the same, minus the explicit negotiation and invoice. Information gets sent to third parties, who cross reference browser information and the location from which the info was sent, effectively identifying and tying the user to the mental health related website. That is, in my opinion no different than explicitly selling mental health information to ad companies and should be treated as such.
This is an interesting take. It means that for information to be sold to third parties it must be explicitly negotiated and delivered, through contractual means, as if it were a product sold with invoices emitted.
What actually happens is virtually the same, minus the explicit negotiation and invoice. Information gets sent to third parties, who cross reference browser information and the location from which the info was sent, effectively identifying and tying the user to the mental health related website. That is, in my opinion no different than explicitly selling mental health information to ad companies and should be treated as such.