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There’s a “funny” Target story where a family starts getting ads and coupons for baby products in their Target mailers after the teen daughter becomes pregnant

by zaroth 8y ago

There’s a “funny” Target story where a family starts getting ads and coupons for baby products in their Target mailers after the teen daughter becomes pregnant (unbeknownst to the parents). In that case it had nothing to do with mining medical records for advertising purposes. The daughter’s browsing and shopping habits sent a strong enough signal to trigger the ad targeting. I don’t know anything about your case, and am very sorry to hear about your family’s loss. I don’t know if you can draw a line to the insurance company selling you out. But now I’m very curious to learn more about what data insurance companies are allowed to sell, and to whom.

gowld 8y ago
It may not be the insurance company specifically, but anyone who has been pregnant in the USA can confirm that getting medical care for pregnancy leads to marketing. They even give photography companies access to patients in the delivery ward.
Spooky23 8y ago
I appreciate that. I've posted this a few times on these matters because it was very impactful to us and really sets the stage about the farce of medical privacy. It is my small way of perhaps inspiring a positive outcome from an awful event. I know the insurance companies, hospital and PBM sold pieces of the data because the formula company immediately upon request disclosed the list that they obtained my name from, and identified who had the relevant information by process of elimination. I don't know specifically all of the ways this is done. Basically, claims data is sold, but not diagnosis. There is other context (type of admission, source of claim) that can identify the reason with confidence. (ie. ER admission, hospital admission, claim from OB/gyn) The prescription, can strengthen the assumed condition, and your pharmacy provides that data in near real-time to pharmaceutical companies, brokers and others. That script is tied to the DEA number of the doctor and can be cross-referenced to the admission. The formula company takes that data and mashes against people who have used their coupons in the past.

by zaroth 8y ago

gowld 8y ago

It may not be the insurance company specifically, but anyone who has been pregnant in the USA can confirm that getting medical care for pregnancy leads to marketing. They even give photography companies access to patients in the delivery ward.

Spooky23 8y ago

I appreciate that. I've posted this a few times on these matters because it was very impactful to us and really sets the stage about the farce of medical privacy. It is my small way of perhaps inspiring a positive outcome from an awful event. I know the insurance companies, hospital and PBM sold pieces of the data because the formula company immediately upon request disclosed the list that they obtained my name from, and identified who had the relevant information by process of elimination. I don't know specifically all of the ways this is done. Basically, claims data is sold, but not diagnosis. There is other context (type of admission, source of claim) that can identify the reason with confidence. (ie. ER admission, hospital admission, claim from OB/gyn) The prescription, can strengthen the assumed condition, and your pharmacy provides that data in near real-time to pharmaceutical companies, brokers and others. That script is tied to the DEA number of the doctor and can be cross-referenced to the admission. The formula company takes that data and mashes against people who have used their coupons in the past.