Court Certifies Four Classes in Meta Healthcare Data Privacy Lawsuit

Summary

A federal judge certified four classes in a lawsuit alleging Meta Pixel and other tracking tools collected patients’ sensitive healthcare information from websites, portals and apps. The ruling does not decide whether Meta violated the law; Meta plans to appeal.

Key points

U.S. District Judge William Orrick certified four classes of Facebook users in consolidated litigation in the Northern District of California.
Plaintiffs allege Meta Pixel and other tracking technologies collected healthcare-related information from websites, portals and apps beginning June 17, 2018.
The lawsuit includes claims involving electronic privacy laws, breach of contract, intrusion upon seclusion and unauthorized computer access.
The ruling allows the plaintiffs to pursue claims collectively but does not determine whether Meta violated any laws.
The court noted HIPAA does not provide a private right of action and that the lawsuit does not assert HIPAA claims.
Meta opposed class certification, citing differences in website tracking implementations, disclosures and filtering; it said it disagrees with the decision and plans to appeal.

Article Details

Event Type: A U.S. federal judge certified four classes in privacy litigation alleging that Meta collected patients’ sensitive healthcare information through tracking technologies.
Impact: The ruling allows potentially millions of Facebook users to pursue claims seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief. It is a procedural decision, not a finding that Meta violated the law; Meta said it disagrees and will seek to appeal.