A class action lawsuit accuses telehealth app operator Wisp of allegedly sharing personal information about users with Facebook and other social media platforms through the use of so-called tracking pixels.
"In order to acquire the highly valuable private Information of its users, customers and patients, WISP installed and configured 'pixels' and similar tracking technologies on its website," states the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. "Invisible to the naked eye, pixels collect and transmit information from Users’ browsers to unauthorized third parties including, but not limited to, Meta Platforms, Inc., Google, Bing/Microsoft and TikTok Inc."
Facebook and other sites use the information "for various business purposes, including using such information to 'improve' advertisers’ ability to target
specific demographics and selling such information to third-party marketers who target those users online," the lawsuit states. "WISP effectively bartered the private medical information of its patients for more detailed analytics of its users to increase its revenues and profits."
The company failed to inform patients that their information was being sold to other platforms, the suit alleges.
"If WISP told its patients that by using its website their sensitive Private Information would be collected and disseminated to Facebook and/or other third-party platforms, they would not consent to that - or they would demand significant compensation for the use of their private and valuable health information in this manner," the suit says.
The lawsuit asserts the alleged actions violate the federal Electronics Communication Privacy Act, California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act and other state laws, among other counts and claims.
It seeks an injunction against the company for continuing to share the information, plus money damages and legal fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys David S. Almeida and John R. Parker Jr., of Almeida Law Group LLC, of Sacramento; and Nicholas Migliaccio, of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP, of Washington, D.C.
B.C. v. Wisp Inc., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California,4:23-cv-06155