Facebook Lawsuit Accuses Meta Platforms of Secretly Tracking GEDmatch Users’ DNA Data

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An Illinois consumer alleges in a proposed class action lawsuit that Meta Platforms illegally intercepted protected genetic data she provided to GEDmatch.com. 

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The 20-page Facebook privacy lawsuit accuses Meta of violating the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) through the “forced compulsion” of the plaintiff’s genetic information, namely through a Facebook tracking pixel embedded onto the website of non-party GEDmatch, an online database that allows users to upload their genetic testing results and analyze and compare the data with thousands of others. 

The filing summarizes that the plaintiff and other GEDmatch users who uploaded their DNA files to the site “thought they were communicating only with GEDmatch.” 

“Unbeknownst to Plaintiff and Class members, however, Defendant’s Pixel surreptitiously intercepts GEDmatch visitors’ communications, including Private Information consisting of the identities of individuals who have been subjected to genetic tests—information that is protected under GIPA,” the lawsuit reads. “In other words, Defendant compelled the disclosure of GEDmatch visitors’ information, including protected Private Information.” 

Under the GIPA, genetic information includes the fact that someone took a genetic test, the suit says, emphasizing the potentially grave consequences and irreversible privacy harms of mishandled genetic information. The Illinois law provides that genetic testing and information derived from genetic testing are confidential and privileged and may be released only to the individual who was tested and to those specifically authorized in writing to receive the data, the case adds. 

Per the complaint, the Facebook pixel allows GEDmatch users’ private genetic information, as well as their unique Facebook ID and IP address, to be scooped by the social platform. The pixel also collects details on how a person interacts with a website, including how long they stay on a particular page, which buttons they click, which pages they view, and which text they type into the website, the lawsuit explains. 

Meta routinely uses the Facebook pixel and other web trackers to collect data in order to build profiles of consumers for the purpose of targeted advertising, including based on private genetic information submitted to GEDmatch, the case continues. 

The complaint argues that reasonable consumers “simply do not anticipate that their confidential information will be intercepted by an unauthorized third party – let alone Meta,” which has a history of significant privacy violations. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in Illinois who, during the applicable statute of limitations period, had a Facebook account and whose private information was transmitted by the Facebook pixel and other related technology without their authorization. The suit also looks to cover a similar group of Illinois residents who, during the applicable statute of limitations period, had Facebook accounts and whose private data was transmitted via the Facebook pixel from GEDmatch’s website without their consent.

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