Opinion: Online privacy loss: another Covid-19 aftershock
Since the coronavirus pandemic first emerged in the United States, millions of Americans have gone online to search for information related to the virus or Covid-19, the disease it causes. Most had no idea they were revealing information about themselves — not just to the government agencies, hospital systems, or media outlets whose websites they visited, but to third-party companies that surreptitiously track their activity and invade their online privacy.
Suppose you want to get tested for Covid-19. A quick web search might lead you to the Department of Health and Human Services’ testing information page. It offers a helpful state-by-state directory of community-based testing sites. What you don’t see is that the page includes hidden tracking code from 17 different third-party domains owned by companies including Google, Oracle, and Twitter.
Read Original Article: Opinion: Online privacy loss: another Covid-19 aftershock »
