"Online Trackers Follow Health Site Visitors"

Researchers at Cornell Tech conducted a study to explore whether the types of websites people are visiting affect how third-party trackers follow them around the internet. The study found that Internet trackers are more likely to follow those who visit WebMD.com, mayoclinic.org, and other popular health sites. Health sites' third-party trackers were observed to be more persistent at following page visitors than trackers in other types of websites, despite being smaller in number. According to researchers, browsing data based on sensitive health information is appealing to advertisers because it allows them to learn a lot about a user and manipulate them into clicking on ads related to their health problems. One researcher pointed out that tracking a user from a health site to a news site violates privacy under the theory of contextual integrity. This article continues to discuss the performance, purpose, and key findings of the study on whether social contexts affect third-party trackers.

Cornell Chronicle reports "Online Trackers Follow Health Site Visitors"