NHS websites are said to be sending data to Google and Facebook to help the tech giants to target web traffic with related ads. These details were discovered in a research carried out by Cookiebot which claims that 60% of WebPages operated by UK based NHS was having ad trackers.
So, when people search the NHS websites on issues such as HIV, mental health or abortion the data is being sent to Google and Facebook which later target that particular PC or web browser with relevant advertisements.
“When trackers such as cookies help businesses target users with ads they directly cause concerns over data privacy for web traffic. And we have pledged to investigate trackers and weed them out from the advertising industry”, said Jeremy Wright the Cultural Secretary.
Due to this reason, EU hit Google with a 2 billion dollar fine for making abusive practices while brokering online ads for websites related to news, blogs and travel aggregators.
Remember, this is the 3rd billion dollars anti-trust penalty levied against the Alphabet Inc’s subsidiary by the European Union Commission since 2017.
Last year, the US tech giant was slapped with a fine of 6 billion for forcing android device users to use Google’s services on a bundled note such as Chrome search.
Kent Walker, the SVP of global affairs, Google said that his company has already made a wide set of changes to address the EU commission’s concerns. And in near future will abide by the new rules and will try to customize its policies as per the standards.
