89% of web users use self-diagnosis websites, 58% unaware their activity is shared

Research conducted by cyber security company, B9 Systems Ltd, reveals that medical websites are sharing our activity with on average 57 third-party websites.

B9 Systems conducted research into the use of cookies by health websites and discovered that all the major players share your private information with, on average, 57 other websites. These include advertising & marketing websites, social media outlets and resellers.

For many with a health problem, the first port of call is a quick online search in hope of self-diagnosis. B9 Systems’ research has revealed that your activity doesn’t always stay with the website you visited.

Stuart Spice, director of B9 Systems comments: “It’s law for EU-based websites to list the third-parties they work with in their cookies policy and should automatically opt you out by default. Unfortunately, this does not extend to websites outside of the EU, meaning there’s a lot of guesswork as to where and with whom our most intimate searches are being shared.”

Further research indicated that in a survey of 100 internet users, 89% had used a medical website to help self-diagnose an ailment at some point, yet only 42% understood that the activity they conducted was then shared with other third-party companies. This means 58% of the users surveyed had no idea that their information was being passed onto companies after they had clicked ‘Accept’ on the site’s cookies policy.

When asked how many third-party companies users thought their information was being shared with, 56% believed it was between one and ten, and 7% of users believed that no third-parties received their information. Only 11% of users correctly predicted that over 40 companies are receiving their information via the medical sites.

B9 is a security blanket that protects you and your information, so you don’t need to think about who has access to your sensitive data. It is set up on your internet router and is designed to stop third-parties cookies from being set. In turn, keeping our most intimate problems from being shared without our knowledge, as well as protecting us against malware, phishing and viruses.