Henry Ford Health Lawsuit Claims Private Patient Data Illegally Shared With Facebook, Google [UPDATE]

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Henry Ford Health has violated state and federal privacy laws by embedding into its website spyware that shares confidential patient data with unauthorized third parties, including Facebook and Google.

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According to the sprawling 106-page privacy lawsuit, when a consumer visits HenryFord.com or its patient portal, built-in tracking software automatically records and transmits their personal information and online interactions to third parties without the user’s knowledge or consent.

The suit contends that Henry Ford Health’s secret use of the tracking technology—which includes Facebook’s Meta pixel, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and Google DoubleClick, among others—is a plain breach of state and federal privacy statutes, which prohibit healthcare providers from disclosing personal and medical information to unrelated third parties without express permission from the consumer.

By installing trackers onto its website, the Detroit-based healthcare provider has essentially “plant[ed] a bug on patients’ web browsers” that allows Facebook, Google and other third parties to “listen in” on sensitive communications that users reasonably expect will stay private, the case alleges.

Per the complaint, visitors use HenryFord.com to access the patient portal, book appointments, locate a provider or facility, research treatments, communicate with their physicians, and more. However, unbeknownst to patients, Henry Ford Health automatically discloses confidential data such as medical details, appointment information, search queries, pages viewed, IP addresses and other personal data, the filing asserts.

The lawsuit claims that, in addition to a visitor’s private communications and movements on the website, Henry Ford Health also transmits a user’s Facebook ID—a unique string of numbers associated with an individual’s social media account.

By sharing this combination of data, the defendant therefore enables unauthorized third parties to link specific patients to their activity on HenryFord.com, the suit charges.

The case argues that website users “simply do not anticipate or expect that their trusted healthcare provider” will disclose confidential information without their consent to unrelated entities, “let alone Facebook and Google, which both have a sordid history of privacy violations in pursuit of ever-increasing advertising revenue.”

The Henry Ford Health privacy lawsuit looks to represent any current or former patients of the healthcare provider or its affiliates in the United States who used HenryFord.com and had their private information disclosed to a third party without authorization.

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