Last week's revelation that the federal Obamacare exchange website is sharing enrollee data with private companies for advertising purposes stands to be one of 2015's biggest scandals, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Breitbart.
Congressional hearings are coming soon, "because the federal government first and foremost has to protect your data," Blackburn, the vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said.
"We finally have confirmation - I had anecdotal evidence on that when healthcare.gov started up," Blackburn told Breitbart. "They denied, denied, denied. Now we have confirmation that yes, indeed, that what healthcare.gov has done is allowed data mining. What we're trying to find out now - and we're investigating - did they make money? Did they sell your data? Who got the money? What pool did that money go to? Did that come back into taxpayer funds? Or, have companies been given free access?"
These crony capitalism practices essentially mean that "someone is making money" off of the personal data of millions of Americans who are forced to buy an insurance product, Blackburn said.
"It is totally outrageous. The federal government - think about it like this. They mandate that you go to this website, and that you enter your personal identifying information, healthcare information and sensitive data into this repository. Your file, if you will, at this website," Blackburn said.
"Then they transit that website to the IRS, to the Department of Homeland Security, they transit it outside to verify your income and all this information and then they sell it to insurance brokers our outside companies who are going to call you up and try to sell you their product."
The Associated Press first reported the revelations last week in a story that claimed the Obamacare exchange was handing over sensitive information - such as age, income, smoking habits and computer IP address - to private third parties for advertising and data mining activities.
"It works like this: When you apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, dozens of data companies may be able to tell that you are on the site. Some can even glean details such as your age, income, ZIP code, whether you smoke or if you are pregnant," the AP wrote.
Data firms have "embedded connections on the government site," AP continued, and "ever-evolving technology allows for individual Internet users to be tracked, building profiles that are a vital tool for advertisers."
"Connections to multiple third-party tech firms were documented by technology experts who analyzed HealthCare.gov, and confirmed by The Associated Press," the AP wrote. "There is no evidence that personal information from HealthCare.gov has been misused, but the number of outside connections is raising questions."
Lawmakers questioned Obama administration officials on Tuesday during a House hearing on the matter, The Hill reported.
