One day after an investigation by CalMatters and The Markup, LinkedIn and Google were hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging they improperly received confidential data from trackers on California’s health insurance exchange website.
A CALIFORNIA congressman, citing the investigation, then called on the federal Health and Human Services Department to investigate the exchange’s sharing of data to LinkedIn.
In the article, published this week, CalMatters and The Markup revealed how trackers on the website, coveredca.com, sent information on visitors to LinkedIn through a tool called the Insight Tag. As visitors filled out forms on the site, the trackers sent LinkedIn information about them, including whether they were pregnant, blind, transgender, or had experienced domestic abuse. The trackers also monitored information on visitors’ searches for medical providers and how often those visitors used prescription drugs.
The government entity that operates the exchange, Covered California, has since removed the trackers. A spokesperson said they had been used as part of an advertising campaign that began in February 2024.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, cites forensic testing by CalMatters and The Markup, as well as research by the plaintiff, to allege that LinkedIn and Google received health…
