Piedmont Healthcare Facing Class Action Over Alleged Sharing of User Data with Facebook

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A proposed class action alleges Piedmont Healthcare has secretly transmitted patients’ personal data to Meta Platforms (Facebook) without consent.

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The 49-page lawsuit says the healthcare provider, which operates a massive network of hospitals, urgent care centers and medical clinics throughout Georgia, was exposed in June 2022 by nonprofit news publication The Markup for its alleged use of a tracking code on its website and patient portal to collect and share patients’ private information with Facebook.

From at least 2020 to approximately June 2022, Piedmont.org and the patient portal found at MyChart.Piedmont.org utilized the Meta pixel, a piece of code that can be embedded into a website in order to allow Facebook to track visitors’ interactions with the page and use this data for advertising purposes, the suit claims.

According to the case, patients can use the defendant’s website and patient portal to search for physicians, research treatments, access medical records, make appointments and more. Per the complaint, the tracking tool was able to collect and transmit directly to Facebook vast amounts of private data, including a patient’s name, appointment type and date, medical provider details, treatment location, medical condition, computer IP address, buttons clicked, contact information and any real-time communications with doctors.

The filing contends that Piedmont’s “conscious decision to prioritize its desires for profit over its own responsibilities and its patients’ privacy rights” has resulted in the improper disclosure of potentially millions of people’s sensitive data.

The defendant never informed website visitors that their personal information would be sent to Facebook or that it was “tracking their every movement” through the Meta pixel, the lawsuit charges.

“Piedmont did so because it knew that this sensitive information had tremendous value and that [the plaintiff] and Class Members would not consent to the collection, disclosure and use of their private information in this manner,” the suit argues.

The lawsuit looks to represent any Georgia residents whose private information was disclosed to a third party without authorization or consent through the pixel on Piedmont.org and MyChart.Piedmont.org.

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