Health data leaks to third parties in web-based health services

Abstract

Today, users may share sensitive health data on web-based health services. We rely on these services to keep our data safe and secured, but this is not always the case. Therefore, this study investigates the privacy of a snapshot of 10 Finnish web-based health services, providing an analysis of health data leaks. We show that all analyzed services leaked at least some kind of personal data to third parties – from topics of visited pages to details on appointment bookings. While the situation has improved after we have notified the health service providers about this issue, the study serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges in protecting user privacy in online health services and highlights the pressing need to address these issues.