A WIRED investigation has revealed that Google’s advertising ecosystem is sharing sensitive information about Americans with major global brands, contravening the company’s own policies. Experts caution that this data, when combined with other information, could be used to identify and target individuals.
Google’s marketing platform, Display & Video 360 (DV360), reportedly allows companies to target U.S. devices based on lists of internet users believed to suffer from chronic illnesses and financial struggles. These categories of personal data are reportedly banned under Google’s public policies.
The platform also offers lists of American users that raise national security concerns because data brokers can identify mobile devices carried by government workers, including judges, military personnel, and Capitol Hill employees.
A spreadsheet obtained by WIRED from a U.S.-based data broker shows that DV360 hosts numerous restricted or sensitive audience segments. These segments contain large amounts of data pointing to countless mobile devices and online profiles of U.S. residents. They are generated by DV360 customers who upload them to the system for targeted advertising.
Data obtained by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Ireland’s oldest independent human rights organization, shows that segments target hundreds of millions of device users based on specific health conditions such as chronic pain, menopause, and fibromyalgia.
Erica Walsh, a Google spokesperson, stated that the platform allows advertisers to upload audience lists using either their own data or data from segment providers, but Google’s policies prohibit the use of sensitive information such as health conditions or financial status for audience segments.
Despite these policies, many segments target households and businesses based on perceived financial hardship, including identifying individuals undergoing bankruptcy or struggling with long-term debt.
Allison Bodack, another Google spokesperson, mentioned that the company takes action when non-compliant audience segments are detected. However, Bodack did not respond to questions regarding undetected segments targeting individuals with conditions like cardiovascular disease or respiratory issues in children.
Segments accessible via DV360 also target Americans with asthma, encompassing hundreds of millions of mobile IDs. Similar lists exist for conditions such as diabetes and for users presumed to require specific medications, including controlled substances like Ambien. One list links over 140 million mobile IDs to opioid usage, suggesting users experience common side effects from opioids.
