How Users Consider Web Tracking When Seeking Health Information Online
Martin P. Robillard, Lihn V. Nguyen, Deeksha Arya, Jin L. C. Guo
TL;DR
Online health information seeking poses privacy risks due to third-party tracking. The study employs qualitative interviews with 35 Canadian adults to examine website choice, privacy-enhancing technology use, self-censorship, and understanding of data collection. It finds limited privacy-protective behavior and uneven understanding of third-party tracking, suggesting a shift in privacy education from what data is collected to how data is collected. The findings inform website operators, user education, and curricula to empower individuals to exert greater control over their online health information privacy.
Abstract
Health information websites offer instantaneous access to information, but have important privacy implications as they can associate a visitor with specific medical conditions. We interviewed 35 residents of Canada to better understand whether and how online health information seekers exercise three potential means of protection against surveillance: website selection, privacy-enhancing technologies, and self-censorship, as well as their understanding of web tracking. Our findings reveal how users' limited initiative and effectiveness in protecting their privacy could be associated with a missing or inaccurate understanding of how implicit data collection by third parties takes place on the web, and who collects the data. We conclude that to help Internet users achieve better self-data protection, we may need to shift privacy awareness efforts from what information is collected to how it is collected.