UMass Memorial Wins Dismissal of Online Tracker Privacy Suit

Patients of University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care failed to convince a federal court that they can proceed with their proposed privacy class claims under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

The proposed class action said UMass Memorial used online tracking tools from Meta Platforms and Google on its websites and patient portal, and that it shared personally identifiable health information like spinal injury treatment and physicians’ instructions to third parties.

Those allegations were insufficient to assert that UMass Memorial purposely invaded the plaintiffs’ privacy, or that it purposely disclosed the patient data in exchange for “marketing benefits,” like analytic metrics. ...