Health Exchange Trackers, TikTok Alcohol Ads, and AI Data Brokers Raise Privacy and Advertising Concerns
Check and remove any tracking pixels on your WordPress sites that collect personal data like ZIP codes or ethnicity markers to avoid privacy violations.
Patch your WordPress sites to remove or anonymize tracking pixels that collect personal data such as ZIP codes or ethnicity markers, and review your privacy policy for compliance.
Summary
On May 5th, Bloomberg reported that 19 of 20 state‑run health insurance exchanges use advertising trackers from Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snap, and Google, and that these pixels are collecting sensitive data such as ZIP codes in Virginia, race and ethnicity markers in Washington, and information about incarcerated family members in New York. California is the only state that did not deploy any pixels, and a handful of states have already removed them after the investigation. The exchanges defend the pixels as a way to measure marketing campaigns and promote their portals, but the report highlights a lack of understanding of how tracking tools work and how the data might be used in the ad ecosystem.
In other advertising news, TikTok has expanded its alcohol advertising program, allowing brands to create branded accounts and target users over 25 with new age‑gating rules that prohibit influencers under 25, depictions of excess drinking, and require disclosure of alcohol content and responsible‑drinking disclaimers. The platform, which started partnering with the Distilled Spirits Council in 2024, does not permit alcohol sales through TikTok Shop, pushing brands to use e‑commerce partners like ReserveBar for attribution. Meanwhile, AI data‑broker firms such as Parallel Web Systems, Perplexity Sonar, Brave, and Firecrawl are poised to become a $1 billion industry by scraping publisher content, a practice that mirrors the open‑web scraping already performed by major LLMs and raises concerns about content ownership and programmatic value.
Key changes
- 19 of 20 state insurance exchanges use Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snap, and Google trackers, collecting ZIP codes, race/ethnicity markers, and incarcerated family data
- California is the only state without any advertising pixels
- TikTok’s alcohol ad program now allows branded accounts targeting users over 25, with restrictions on influencers under 25, excess drinking depictions, and mandatory alcohol content disclosure
- Alcohol brands cannot sell through TikTok Shop and must partner with e‑commerce platforms like ReserveBar for attribution
- The Distilled Spirits Council partnership began in 2024, expanding TikTok’s alcohol advertising reach
- AI data‑broker firms such as Parallel Web Systems, Perplexity Sonar, Brave, and Firecrawl are expected to form a $1 billion industry by scraping publisher content
- Major LLMs already scrape paywalled content, raising concerns about content ownership and programmatic value