Data removal services face uphill battle in healthcare

The data broker market is worth half a trillion dollars and growing at a rate of 7.3 percent annually through 2033. That means they don’t care that you want your privacy. They are making too much money selling your personal information to care. That lack of concern doesn’t just affect an individual’s privacy. It threatens their security and that of nation states. The personal data removal and online privacy niche is fixing the problem. That industry, however is worth a 10th of the data broker market so it doesn’t have the political clout of data brokers. And nowhere is it bigger than the healthcare industry, according to Rob Shavell, CEO of Deleteme.

In that industry’s defense, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects patient data quite effectively. Third-party service providers to the medical industry are at the heart of the problem.

HIPAA doesn’t cover everything

Shavell said HIPAA does a good job protecting patient information. “The problem is none of the other health information is protected by HIPAA or any other regulation.” He’s talking about things like telemedicine, which is growing globally 24.68% from 2025 to 2030. This is not getting on a video call with your doctor. That’s still protected by HIPAA. The primary drivers are AI-based applications that are not covered by insurance. Even asking an AI assistant about medical conditions can be sold to data brokers.

“As we download mental health and wellness apps, which are also growing at double, triple digits, none of that information is protected under any regulation,” Shavell explained.

Deleteme provides a non-subscription based service identifying who sells personal information and what malicious organizations have it. The service to find out if you’ve been sold, is free, but for less than $130 a year starts the process of getting control of your data. Similar services include, Reputation Defender, Incogni, Abine, and OneRep, all for similar prices.

Foxes in the henhouse

There are safer alternatives to most data trackers, healthcare companies make the worst possible choices: the companies that abuse data more than any other Google and Meta. While just about every site on the world is selling your data, healthcare companies are particularly vulnerable using an average of 600 trackers each, primarily Google and Meta Pixels. Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) leads with trackers in 33 percent of the sites. There are other privacy-compliant tools, like Improvato and FreshPaint, but they can’t compete with the big players and have less than 1% adoption.

Some governments, particularly the EU and a few state governments like California and New York, have stepped up with state-mandated data removal systems, but they only go so far. This year, California’s Delete Act & DROP System went into full effect and Deleteme actively supported passage of the law. But Shavell said those laws rely on broker compliance, backed up by heavy fines, while data-removal services provide ongoing monitoring and fills compliance gaps.

Data brokers, Meta and Google make a lot of money by stealing and sell user data, and we let them. Governments and data removal companies have an uphill battle to overcome abuses, but it is a start.