Meta Platforms must face class action for breaching medical privacy of patients
Meta Platforms must face a lawsuit claiming that it violated the medical privacy of patients who were treated by hospitals and other healthcare providers that used its Meta Pixel tracking tool.
US District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco said the plaintiffs could pursue claims that Meta violated a federal wiretap law and a California privacy law, and violated its own contractual promises governing user privacy on Facebook.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisitNorthwestern UniversityKellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Digital MarketingVisitNorthwestern UniversityKellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Product ManagementVisitIIM LucknowIIML Executive Programme in Data ScienceVisit In a 26-page decision on Thursday, the judge said the case, based on the evidence so far, «does not negate the plausible allegations that sensitive healthcare information is intentionally captured and transmitted to Meta.»
Orrick dismissed some other claims but said the plaintiffs, all using John Doe or Jane Doe pseudonyms, could try to replead them.
According to the plaintiffs, Meta Pixel provided sensitive information about their health to Meta when they logged into patient portals, where the tracking tool had been installed, enabling Meta to make money from targeted advertising.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for all Facebook users whose health information was obtained by Meta.
Neither Meta nor lawyers for the Menlo Park, California-based company responded on Friday to requests for immediate comment. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to similar requests.
When the litigation began in June 2020, lawyers for one
