Tech Giants Use Invisible Pixels to Siphon Internet Users Data

(MENAFN) Major technology companies are quietly embedding microscopic tracking tools across millions of websites and emails, siphoning vast amounts of personal data from internet users — including people who have never created an account on their platforms.

The mechanism behind this mass surveillance is deceptively simple: transparent graphic files, invisible to the naked eye, are deployed across the web to silently relay user behavior directly to corporate servers. The data captured ranges from IP addresses and browsing habits to clicked products and, in the most alarming cases, sensitive medical diagnoses.

The intelligence gathered fuels the precision advertising engines that generate billions in annual revenue for the world's largest tech firms.

Among the most troubling developments is the rise of so-called "shadow profiles" — databases built on individuals who have never willingly engaged with a platform. By harvesting data from a person's social circle and tracking their activity across the open web, companies construct detailed behavioral dossiers without any direct interaction or consent. Should a non-user eventually join the platform, years of silently accumulated data can be instantly tied to their new account via IP addresses and browser fingerprints.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, operates the internet's most expansive tracking infrastructure. According to DuckDuckGo's Tracker Radar — which claims to have exposed "hidden tracking" — Google has visibility into roughly 70% of all websites visited globally, effectively placing the tech giant's eye on nearly every corner of the internet. Microsoft tracks 30% of visited sites, while Meta — Facebook's parent — monitors 19.7%. ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, trails the field with trackers present on approximately 5% of websites.

The reach of these tools extends deep into America's healthcare system, raising acute privacy concerns. A large-scale study published in the PNAS Nexus academic journal found that roughly 66% of US hospitals deploy tracking pixels on their websites, transmitting sensitive patient data — including clinic visits and medical condition searches — directly to major tech firms.

The case of Advocate Aurora Health, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the United States, illustrates the scale of potential exposure. According to the study, the organization used Meta Pixel and Google Analytics to enhance its services, inadvertently funneling the personal health information of approximately 3 million patients to third-party technology companies. The breach triggered a sweeping class-action lawsuit.

Tracking pixels themselves occupy a legal grey zone — the underlying technology is not prohibited — but the data practices surrounding them are heavily regulated. The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Türkiye's Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) both mandate that companies obtain explicit, freely given consent before deploying non-essential tracking for advertising or profiling purposes.

In the US, sharing sensitive personal data without consent carries severe legal consequences. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has formally classified the undisclosed use of tracking pixels as a deceptive practice and levied fines totaling millions of dollars against offending parties. More than 50 class-action lawsuits have been filed against Meta and Google alone over pixel-related privacy violations in the healthcare sector — a figure that legal experts expect to grow as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.

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