Joint Subcommittee Hearing Examines Privacy of Healthcare.gov and Third-Party Data Sharing
(Washington, DC) – Today the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research & Technology and Subcommittee on Oversight held a joint hearing to discuss the potential privacy concerns of the third-party data sharing on the Federal healthcare website, Healthcare.gov. Testifying before the subcommittees were Ms. Michelle De Mooy, Deputy Director of Consumer Privacy at the Center for Democracy and Technology and Mr. Morgan Wright, Principal at Morgan Wright, LLC.
Ranking Member of the Oversight Subcommittee Don Beyer (D-VA) said, “Recent news stories on the sharing of Healthcare.gov visitor data with third parties raise legitimate privacy concerns… According to these stories, no personally identifiable information, known as PII, was provided to third parties. However, news reports also suggest that other information was being provided to third parties without the clear consent of visitors to the site.
He continued, “Since the launch of Healthcare.gov an additional 10 million Americans now have healthcare coverage. I believe that extending market opportunities to 10 million Americans to get health insurance represents a tremendously positive event for millions of families across this country.”
Ms. De Mooy explained the role of third-party entities on improving website functionality saying, “It’s important to note that the presence of tracking software may be justified, depending on the circumstances – many websites collect this type of information in order to observe the profile of visitors to their own site, something referred to as web analytics… Whether the site itself or a service provider collects the data, performing web analytics is a key part of the online ecosystem. They allow websites to be responsive to their users’ interests and intentions in using their website – for example, HealthCare.gov may use web analytics to determine if visitors want to learn information eligibility right away and be directed instead to information about plan rates.”
Democratic Members discussed the need for continued improvement of the Healthcare.gov website and the strides that have been made to date to make the website more user-friendly and accessible. Democrats also discussed the broader government role in protecting citizens’ privacy online and the cyber threats that Americans face every day regardless of the websites they are visiting.
Ranking Member Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) of the Research & Technology Subcommittee said, “I would note that privacy is a big issue across the internet. Data analytics tools can help improve customer experience. But their ubiquity and integration into the workings of so many websites means that Americans concerned about their privacy may have little real choice when it comes to how they can manage the release of their information… While we may hold the government to a higher standard, it is incumbent upon us to consider steps we can take to ensure that Americans are able to safeguard their personal data across the online environment as a whole.”
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