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First on Fox: The Républicains of the Chamber report from California to public medical insurance with a letter requiring responses to its data leak on private patients to third -party entries as part of a marketing effort.
Merged by several Republicans in the Chamber Energy and Trade Committee, the letter to covered in California, which facilitates Public health insurance For millions of Californians, looking for answers to numerous questions about his alleged leak of data from private patients to third -party entities, such as Linkedin and Google.
“Ensuring the confidentiality of health information is a fundamental obligation for entities operating in the health insurance ecosystem”, according to the letter, signed by five Republican leaders in the Chamber. He underlines how federal protections on privacy, in particular those from the Health Insurance Act and Responsibility (HIPAA), establish certain “expectations” on the way organizations like California must manage patient information.
In addition, in California, the law obliges consumers to provide authorization to certain organizations before their medical information can be disclosed to third parties.
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“Recent reports and public documents have raised questions as to whether these expectations have been satisfied in this case and if the existing surveillance mechanisms are sufficient to detect and prevent inappropriate disclosure,” said the Republicans’ letter.
House Republicans demand responses from the California public health insurance market after being discovered that the program shared information sensitive to patients. (Getty Images / Cyberguy.com)
After public critics at the end of April, alleging that covered California passed from data sensitive to LinkedIn patients via a network of “trackers” on its website, the exchange of health insurance managed by the State deleted them.
Critics arose from a forensic analysis of two non-profit organizations of investigation, which revealed that the California website was covered prescription drugs They use, or the frequency to which they see doctors, have been transmitted to LinkedIn without the knowledge or patient consent. Other questions included demographic information and other sensitive personal data, and covered California later admitted that they have shared the social security numbers of patients.
In total, covered California had more than 60 “trackers” active on various data points, according to Cal is important, One of the non -profit organizations of investigation that discovered the disclosed data. Cal Matters, in their survey, stressed how the average number of trackers on more than 200 government websites he studied was only three.
Following the Cal Matters report which led to public criticism, Coverd California later explained that the “trackers” he worked on his website were part of an advertising campaign launched in February 2024, and when the data is discovered, he deleted them in April the following year.
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According to Cal Matter, Cal Matter, one of the investigative organizations that discovered the data. (Kurt “Cyberguy” KTUSSON)
“COUVRET California takes advantage of LinkedIn’s advertising platform tools, including LinkedIn Insight tags, which are code elements added to a website to help follow how visitors interact with the site. This tool allows us to better understand consumer behavior and deliver tailor-made messages to help consumers public declaration Turn off the Cal Matters report. “Although the examination is still in progress, covered California has identified that certain sensitive data have been inadvertently collected by beacons, including first names, the last four figures of social security numbers and other sensitive health information such as pregnancy status.”
The Exchange of Health Insurance State added that it examined all of its website to ensure that none or analysis tool collected or poorly shared the sensitive data from patients.
Meanwhile, a few days after CAL materials, data sharing concerns involving California covered in light, a collective appeal Was tabled against LinkedIn and Google, accusing software exploitation companies allowing them to “intercept sensitive and confidential communications of covered customers in California”.
The letter of House Republicans marks the last attempt to increase the pressure on the exchange of public health insurance managed by California. The Republicans demand answers to questions relating to its data sharing, especially during the time period, they would have shared information with Linkedin, as well as questions about what California is currently doing to protect the data from its patients.
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Representatives of GOP Brett Guthrie and Jay Obernolte, who both serve the Chamber’s Energy and Trade Committee, helped direct the improved investigation measures against the California’s public insurance market. (Getty Images)
“Americans deserve to know that their sensitive health data is secure and is manipulated with caution”, ” President Guthrie said after the transmission of the letter to covered California. “We hope that California will be transparent and to come on this apparent data security failure when we launch our survey.”
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“Unauthorized sharing of private health data with third -party advertisers – including pregnancy status, prescription drug consumption and social security information – is deeply disturbing,” added California representative Jay Obernolte, A republican colleague from the Chamber Energy and Trade Committee who helped direct the letter to cover California alongside Guthrie. “We are looking for answers because the inhabitants of California deserve responsibility and transparency when their privacy is compromised.”
When he was contacted to comment, California covered California recognized the reception of Guthrie’s letter, Obernolte and other people in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, adding that they are currently examining his requests and planned to answer by the deadline provided on July 1. Google and LinkedIn refused to provide comments for this article.