Social media privacy: Health firms tracked patients’ searches without consent, watchdog finds
Social media privacy: Health firms tracked patients’ searches without consent, watchdog finds
Publish Date: 2026-06-23 15:00:00
Source Domain: www.smh.com.au
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People researching topics such as egg freezing, prostate conditions and contraception on two health websites were tracked through invisible code and had their searches fed to social media giants in conduct Australia’s privacy watchdog has now ruled unlawful.
Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind found that fertility provider Monash IVF and telehealth company Medmate both interfered with the privacy of website visitors by using third-party tracking pixels without consent, then used what they gathered to chase those people with advertising. Both companies have been ordered to stop and delete the data they collected.
A pixel is an invisible piece of code embedded in a website that records what a visitor does, from the pages they read to the searches they run, and sends that information to companies such as Meta and TikTok.
The regulator’s findings, to be published on Wednesday, are its first ruling on the technology. They establish that a website using tracking pixels to collect health information and then target those visitors with advertising is collecting sensitive personal information that requires consent under the Privacy Act.
Kind said the harm went beyond the discomfort of being followed by ads.
“The potential real-world harm is that people don’t feel comfortable searching out information and health services online … because they’re worried that their health data is going to be used and passed on to big tech social media companies,” she said in an interview.
She pointed to “the chilling effect of knowing that one is under surveillance online, and then self-censoring or stopping yourself from looking for information that really could assist you or your family”.
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