The shocking truth about searching for medical info on WebMD
It’s the number one website for people with health questions.
It has millions of pages with information on every disease and health condition under the sun. And more than 80 million new visitors are finding their way to WebMD every month.
But an Ivy League researcher is warning that WebMD is not what it appears to be. And that it may not be the “leading source for trustworthy and timely health and medical” information we’ve all been led to believe.
In fact, from the moment you log onto the site, WebMD may be selling your most intimate health information to drug companies, credit bureaus, and anyone else willing to pay up. And just one visit to the site… just one well-intentioned search… could have your privacy going up in smoke.
But that amazing online doctor has long since retired. And the business WebMD is in now has nothing to do with your privacy.
“WebMD is basically calling up everybody in town and telling them… what you’re looking at,” warns Tim Libert, a researcher from the University of Pennsylvania who has extensively investigated the website.
Every time you search for information about a disease — whether it’s for yourself or someone else — WebMD is sharing details about your search with 34 different companies, Libert found. Mega-corporations ranging from Google to Facebook may learn that you’re looking for information on bladder control, cancer, or dozens of other conditions that should stay between you and your doctor.
What’s most disturbing, though, is that WebMD is sharing your search information with Experian — the credit bureau that now calls itself a “global information services group.” Experian, of course, exists for one reason — to collect as much personal information as it can about you, and to sell that data to the highest bidders.
Bidders who may be deciding your insurance rates, whether to loan you money for a car, and even whether to offer you a job. In fact, at a Congressional hearing a year and a half ago, one prominent senator called companies like Experian worse than NSA spying.
Because it has access to your financial information and now — thanks to WebMD — your health searches, “Experian can follow an individual from her first sneeze to her final unpaid hospital bill,” Libert said
Of course, Experian isn’t the only company WebMD has sold you out to. Visit the site and you’ll be inundated with prescription drug ads — and the company even admits that it’s spying on which diseases you’re interested in and trying to match you with the right ads (or drugs).
Recent subscribers to the WebMD email newsletter were bombarded with ads for Vyvanse, Shire Pharmaceuticals drug for “Binge Eating Disorder.” They were even sent to a Binge Eating Disorder Health Center with thinly-veiled marketing pieces masquerading as objective articles.
Even our government has noticed the giant “for sale” sign WebMD practically has on its home page. Seven years ago, the FDA started pouring cash into the site as part of a “partnership” to plug federal health initiatives — including the controversial flu vaccine.
And just two years ago, our government paid WebMD nearly $5 million to promote Obamacare.
At first glance, WebMD may appear to be an independent, objective source of health information. But experts like Libert are warning that it’s become a lot like the billion-dollar drugmakers and credit bureaus it counts as customers.
It’s more interested in making a buck than keeping you well.
Sources:
“FDA and WebMD form partnership” fda.gov
“Slideshow: Visual guide to binge eating disorder” WebMD, webmd.com
