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UK mental health charity passes sensitive data to Facebook for targeted advertising | mental health

UK mental health charity passes sensitive data to Facebook for targeted advertising |  mental health

 


Some of the UK’s largest charities supporting people with mental health problems have shared sensitive web browsing details with Facebook for use in targeted advertising systems.

This data was transmitted via a tracking tool built into the charity’s website and includes details of webpages users visited and which buttons they clicked on content related to depression, self-harm and eating disorders.

We also included details of when a user requested support, such as when a user clicked on a link saying they needed help and viewed a web page to access an online chat tool. Some of the pages that prompted the sharing of data with Facebook were specifically aimed at children, including a page aimed at 11- to 18-year-olds offering advice on suicidal thoughts.

The data sent to Facebook during the Observers analysis did not include details of conversations between charities and users or messages sent via chat tools. All charities stressed that such messages are confidential and take the privacy of users of their services very seriously.

However, they are often relevant to searchers and are usually expected to be private, including details about button clicks and page views on the websites of mental health charity Mind, Shout and Rethink Mental Illness and eating disorder charity Beat. .

This information usually matched details of an IP address, an identifier that could be linked to a person or household, and in most cases a Facebook account ID.

Most charities have now removed the tracking tool known as Meta Pixel from their websites.

The findings from an Observer survey last week found that 20 NHS England Trusts were using Facebook and Facebook for targeted advertising, including information about browsing activity on hundreds of webpages linked to specific health conditions, appointments, medications and referral requests. This came after it was revealed that they were sharing data.

A page about self-harm on the website of Shout, a mental health charity that shared its browsing details with Facebook via Meta Pixel. Photo: screengrab

In one case, an NHS trust notified Facebook when users saw a guide to HIV medications. After being warned about the presence of tracking tools on their websites and the nature of the data being shared, most trusts removed them and apologized to their patients. All 20 of them have now stopped using it.

The NHS Trust was also using the Meta Pixel, a piece of code provided by Facebook that could be embedded into an organization’s website. Facebook says it can help you gain rich insights into website performance and user behavior.

However, the Company also uses the data transmitted via the pixel for its own business purposes, including improving targeted advertising. In one guide, Facebook’s parent company Meta says it uses data collected from pixels to improve the user experience. For example, we show you ads that might be of interest to you. .

Facebook has made it clear that organizations should not use metapixels to collect or share sensitive data, such as information that could reveal details about a person’s health or data relating to children. It is also said to have a filter to filter out sensitive data received by mistake. However, past research has shown that this doesn’t always work, and Facebook itself admits that its system doesn’t catch everything.

The company has been criticized for doing too little monitoring of what information is being transmitted, and has faced questions about why it allows certain organizations, such as hospitals and mental health charities, to transmit data in the first place.

In some cases, UK organizations found to be using the tool said they were unaware of how the information was being shared with Facebook.

One charity called Rethink Mental Illness said it used the Meta Pixel to optimize communications around events and fundraising.

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Facebook sent data about sensitive web browsing from several mental health charities. Photo: screengrab

We said we were unaware that Meta was collecting and using personally identifiable information such as IP addresses to profile users. The charity said it was suffering very hard from the use of data. I removed the tool and apologized.

Shout, who runs a crisis text line for children and adults, said the Meta Pixel was set up to track the effectiveness of campaigns promoting classified services. Data logs sent to Facebook by the charity show that it includes details of when users clicked on links to view pages titled Support for Abuse, Support for Suicidal Thoughts, and Support for Self-Harm.

A spokesperson said the charity takes the privacy and data protection of users of its services very seriously and was unaware that Meta was using their data in this way. Tool removed.

Beat said it used the Meta Pixel to support advertising for fundraising, promoting campaigns and supporting services. We take the privacy of those we support very seriously and are investigating urgently, the spokesperson said.

Mind’s head of digital, Cath Biddle, said that the privacy of website visitors is of the utmost importance, and that they conduct comprehensive audits of their policies and data usage. We immediately stopped using metapixels while we investigated the matter further, she said.

In total, Observer tested 32 charity websites and found 7 using its tracking tool. This adds up to 20 of the 213 NHS Trusted Sites. In addition to varying reliance on tracking tools, our analysis revealed significant differences in the approaches organizations take to inform and obtain consent from service users about the use of their data. Some charities have mentioned Meta Pixels in their privacy policies, but in all cases the data transmission occurred automatically when the charity web page was loaded, before the user clicked to accept or reject cookies. That is, the default setting was data sharing.

Cori Crider, co-founder of Foxglove, a legal nonprofit specializing in data privacy law, said the findings were surprising. She said people should be able to trust that when they go to a charity seeking help, it will be kept private. She urged charities and other organizations dealing with sensitive data to be smart about how Facebook’s advertising system works and that it has created an economy that traffics people’s data, and urged politicians and regulators to act. . They were sleeping behind the wheel, she said.

In the United States, Facebook faces legal action for allegedly violating web users’ privacy by knowingly collecting and monetizing personally identifiable health information through its Meta Pixel tool. Several hospitals were also sued. Earlier this year, online therapy company BetterHelp was ordered to pay $7.8 million by the US government for sharing sensitive data with Facebook and other social media companies for advertising purposes.

A Meta spokesperson said: Organizations should not send sensitive information about people through business tools.

To prevent this from happening, we train advertisers on how to properly set up their business tools, and the system is designed to filter out any potentially sensitive data it can detect.

The UK regulator, the Information Commissioners Office, said it had taken note of new findings related to the use of Meta Pixels on charitable websites. We are already investigating the use of pixels on the NHS Trust website after last week’s Observer investigation.

A spokesperson said: Organizations must provide users with clear and comprehensive information when using cookies and similar technologies, particularly where sensitive personal information is involved. We are continuing to review findings and investigate the potential scope of any personal data collected using Pixels and shared with third parties.

Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/03/uk-mental-health-charities-handed-sensitive-data-to-facebook-for-targeted-ads

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