San Francisco, Meta (Previously Facebook) has been sued in the US for violating patient privacy with a data tracking tool.
Two proposed class-action lawsuits allege that Meta and major US hospitals committed A Meta Pixel tracking tool that sends health information to Facebook, reports The Verge.
In June, an investigation by The Markup found that several hospital websites had a tracking tool that sent sensitive medical information to Facebook when people scheduled appointments.
Hospitals using the tool may be violating medical privacy laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Under medical privacy laws, hospitals and healthcare organizations require patient consent to share personally identifiable health information with outside groups.
Meta Tool can be installed on websites to provide analytics on Facebook and Instagram ads.
“It also collects information about how people click around and input information into those websites,” the report said.
Lawsuits now have to be certified as class actions by a judge before moving forward.
The patients alleged in the lawsuit that their medical information was sent to Facebook through the Meta Pixel tool, which later “served ads targeting her heart and knee conditions”.
A lawsuit alleges at least 664 healthcare providers sent medical data to Facebook via MetaPixel.
