Kathryn M. Rattigan of Robinson & Cole LLP writes:
Angela Cole and Beatrice Roche filed suit against Quest Diagnostics, claiming that Quest violated California’s privacy laws by letting Facebook’s Pixel tracker collect sensitive information when they used Quest’s websites, both the public pages and the password-protected patient portal.
Specifically, they pointed to two California laws:
- California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), which prohibits secret “interception” of communications; and
- Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), which protects patients’ medical information from unauthorized use and disclosure.
The complaint alleged that, when Quest installed the Facebook Pixel, their browsers sent page URLs, titles, and metadata straight to Facebook, while users were logged into Facebook.
The lower court tossed out all claims, and the Third Circuit agreed.
Read more at The National Law Review to find out why the Third Circuit agreed.