University of Vermont Health Network Secretly Handed Website Visitors’ Personal Data to Facebook, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action claims a major healthcare network and a medical center affiliated with the University of Vermont have secretly shared website visitors’ personal and medical data with third parties, including Meta (Facebook).

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According to the 97-page privacy lawsuit, the website operated by defendants University of Vermont Health Network Inc. and University of Vermont Medical Center Inc. utilized a Meta pixel—that is, a piece of back-end code that lets Facebook track users’ activity in real time as they interact with the site. The case alleges the pixel was integrated into UVMHealth.org from at least July 2016 to September 2023.

Per the suit, the tracker automatically transmits captured data back to the social media company, where the information is compiled and used for targeted advertising purposes.

The case contends that, by utilizing the Meta pixel, the healthcare providers have knowingly disclosed to Facebook every move patients make on UVMHealth.org and its patient portal, including their search queries, IP addresses, buttons clicked, pages viewed and more.

As the complaint tells it, the tracking tool intercepts and shares sensitive health data such as a visitor’s medical conditions, diagnoses, treatment status and treating providers, among other confidential information.

In addition, the tracker transmits a user’s Facebook ID, a unique identifier that can be used to pinpoint an individual’s social media profile, the filing relays. The medical lawsuit charges that by disclosing a visitor’s Facebook ID, the defendants provide enough personal data to link a patient’s identity to their online activity.

“Because the user's [Facebook ID] uniquely identifies an individual's Facebook account, Facebook—or any ordinary person—can easily use the [Facebook ID] to quickly and easily locate, access, and view the user's corresponding Facebook profile,” the suit asserts.

According to the case, the defendants’ conduct flies in the face of the expectations of website users, who “thought they were communicating with only their trusted healthcare providers, and reasonably believed that their sensitive and private [protected health information] would be guarded with the utmost care.”

The complaint alleges that the healthcare providers’ data-sharing practices constitute an “extreme invasion” of consumers’ privacy, violate state and federal law, and breach the defendants’ own privacy policies, which “affirmatively and unequivocally state that any personal information provided to [the defendants] will remain secure and protected.”

The University of Vermont Health Network class action lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose private information was disclosed to a third party without authorization or consent through the Meta pixel on UVMHealth.org.

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