Meta Likely To Be Sued Over Alleged Threat To Patient Information Privacy  

A new lawsuit claims that Meta gained access to millions of private medical records without their consent and used them to target treatment ads and medicine on Facebook.

This lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California last week. It is the second that accuses US hospitals of providing Meta sensitive patient information and violating HIPAA. The Verge first reported about the suit on Tuesday.

According to the complaint, these hospitals used Meta's Pixel tool to access patients' password-protected portals. They also shared sensitive information with Meta that was then sold on to Facebook advertisers. Meta Pixel allows businesses to build and measure audiences for their ad campaigns.

A investigation carried out by The Markup, a nonprofit newsroom, found that 33 top 100 hospitals in America used the Meta Pixel.

This complaint describes the experience of a Facebook user who received targeted ads for medication related heart and knee conditions. She had entered the information in her private patient portal at University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

Meta's policy states that advertisers shouldn't share any data with Meta if they know it includes financial or health information. The lawsuit alleges that Meta knowingly collected this sensitive medical information from websites related to healthcare.

In the past, Meta has drawn criticism for its data-tracking practises. According to sources, the business is presently developing a "simple advertisements" offering that doesn't rely on users' personal data.