From Risk to Resolution: How to Scan Your Sites for Third-Party Pixels, Remove Risky Cookies, and Replace Them with HIPAA-Compliant Alternatives

Healthcare organizations need to maintain HIPAA compliance while using modern marketing tools. The problem? Popular third-party scripts and pixels create compliance risks that expose your organization to regulatory scrutiny.

This guide shows you how to use the Web Scanner to identify high-priority compliance issues on your website, then systematically replace them with HIPAA-compliant alternatives.

What We're Building

We'll tackle a common high-priority issue found on healthcare websites:

• Google Maps: Embedded maps that load third-party JavaScript and cookies

Our goal is to replace this with a HIPAA-compliant alternative while maintaining functionality and improving site performance.

Step 1: Run Initial Web Scanner

Setting Up the Scan

1. Access the Web Scanner in your Ours Privacy CDP dashboard

2. Enter your domain (e.g., healthcare-clinic.com)

3. Configure scan settings:

Understanding the Results

The scanner will generate a comprehensive report showing:

• Total pages scanned: Complete inventory of your web presence

• Third-party scripts found: All external JavaScript and tracking codes

• Cookies detected: All cookies set by third-party services

• Risk assessment: High, medium, and low-priority items

Watch for Side Effects: When you load Google Maps, you're allowing Google to load any other script it wants. The scanner will show you these additional items loaded alongside Google Maps:

• Google Analytics tracking scripts and cookies

• DoubleClick advertising cookies and scripts

This isn't unique to Google. Most third-party scripts load additional dependencies that create more compliance risks than you initially expected.

Step 2: Analyze Scanner Results

Reviewing Google Maps Usage

The scanner will show you exactly which pages load Google Maps:

Compliance Risk: Google Maps loads third-party JavaScript and sets cookies without explicit user consent. It also loads scripts directly from Google, which may create HIPAA compliance concerns for healthcare websites. The HHS guidance on online tracking technologies indicates that third-party scripts can create significant compliance concerns that healthcare organizations should evaluate.

Simply embedding a Google Map exposes your website visitors to multiple tracking systems they never explicitly consented to, creating a cascade of compliance risks beyond just the map functionality itself.

Step 3: Replace Google Maps with HIPAA-Compliant Alternative

Choosing a HIPAA-Compliant Mapping Service

Replace Google Maps with HIPAA-compliant maps that:

• Don't load third-party JavaScript

• Don't set tracking cookies

• Process all data server-side

• Are designed to support HIPAA compliance requirements

• Allow you to set up a custom domain to embed the mapping service directly from your own domain

Implementation Steps

1. Remove existing Google Maps code:

2. Replace with HIPAA-compliant maps:

3. Test the new implementation:

Step 4: Run Follow-Up Scanner

Verifying the Changes

1. Run the Web Scanner again on the same domain

2. Compare results with your initial scan

3. Verify improvements:

Results and Benefits

Enhanced Privacy and Compliance

• HIPAA Compliance Support: No third-party data sharing or tracking

• Reduced Risk: Minimized potential compliance violations

• Audit Trail: Enhanced control over data flow and processing

First-Party Data Control

• Custom Domains: Set up custom domains to make tracking appear first-party

• Data Ownership: All data flows through your controlled infrastructure

• Enhanced Attribution: Server-side processing provides more reliable tracking

• Avoid Setting Cookies and Loading Third-Party Scripts: First-party mapping service eliminates this risk entirely

Key Takeaways

• Web Scanner provides complete visibility into third-party compliance risks

• Systematic replacement of high-priority items improves compliance and performance

• Server-side tracking maintains functionality while reducing risks

• HIPAA-compliant alternatives are available for many common third-party services

• Custom domains provide additional privacy and performance benefits

The goal is straightforward: maintain all your marketing functionality while reducing compliance risks. The Web Scanner gives you the visibility to identify problems, and HIPAA-compliant alternatives give you the tools to address them.

For more information on implementing these solutions, see our Customer Data Platform documentation and Custom Domains guide.