USC Arcadia’s website, “uscarcadiahospital.org” discloses almost all user activity to Facebook for advertising purposes. Collecting this information leads to sensitive disclosures such as users’ medical conditions, locations, medical history, and treatments.
The information is disclosed to Facebook through the Facebook Pixel, also known as Meta Pixel, which is a piece of code that allows companies to track activity on their website, in large part to understand whom to target with which advertisements. Facebook Pixel is an enormously popular tool for businesses and is available for free – the cost lies in granting the advertising giant access to user information. Meta specializes in gathering information on people and using it to advertise to them with superior accuracy.
In this pursuit, the company has faced a litany of lawsuits and complaints regarding misuse of personal information over the past decade. It is deeply irresponsible for USC Arcadia to allow this particular company access to perhaps the most sensitive information that a person can have. It is also decidedly illegal.
Users of “uscaracadiahospital.org” are entitled to financial compensation for their damages. Our consumer class action lawsuit lawyers understand that personal medical information should never be for sale. Patients entrust USC Arcadia for their care – the hospital abused this trust by giving their information to Meta to attempt to maximize their ability to profit off them. USC Arcadia is not the only California hospital that has made this misguided choice.
Our consumer class action attorneys are pursuing multiple such lawsuits in a broader effort to bring compensation to all those who have had their rights violated. To learn more or to see if you might have a case, contact us today.
What Is Facebook Pixel?
Facebook Pixel allows companies to optimize their approach to advertising. For many companies in fields that do not pertain to sensitive medical information, it can be a useful tool. It creates a unique user identification number for each user that has a Facebook account, and then creates records of every action that the user takes.
This includes everything from what a user is entering into the search bar to which doctors a user contacts. Facebook Pixel also allows companies to understand which of their advertisements brought users to their website. The service gathers a staggering amount of information for a company to use to guide its decision making process.
Facebook Pixel is designed to be invisible to the average user, hidden in the backend coding of the website. USC Arcadia does not want users of uscarcadiahospital.org to understand the scale of information being gathered. The website identifies its mission with regards to its patients as to “provide high-quality healing services while caring for the patient’s emotional and spiritual needs and enabling them to achieve health for life.”
Sending patients’ personal information to Facebook runs counter to this stated aim, as it exposes them to increased risk of cyberattacks and violates their privacy rights. Contact our team of consumer class action attorneys today if you have experienced illegal data sharing of this nature.
Did USC Arcadia Break the Law?
California law offers multiple protections against irresponsible actions like those of USC Arcadia. In sharing your personal medical information with Facebook, USC Arcadia violated:
- California Invasion of Privacy Act. This bill dictates that companies may not aid or permit third parties to read or learn the contents of any message within California without the consent of all parties.
- Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. This bill clarifies that healthcare providers may not share, sell, or use the medical information of patients for any purpose not necessary to providing healthcare services without the patient’s authorization.
The use of Facebook Pixel on uscarcadiahospital.org, and the information disclosure inherited by this use, violates both of these laws. Under these laws, anyone who has had their rights violated in this manner is entitled to financial compensation. Contact our Arcadia Hospital class action lawyers today to see if your similar experience might qualify you for financial compensation.
What Is a Class Action Lawsuit?
A class action lawsuit allows our consumer class action attorneys to pursue one lawsuit on behalf of numerous plaintiffs. In a class action lawsuit, a judge creates a group of people that he or she permits to pursue legal action as a group. This group is known as a “class”. Our Arcadia Hospital class action lawyers are dedicated to holding USC Arcadia accountable.
Our consumer class action attorneys are fighting back against the alarmingly common illegal data collection taking place in California. Countless websites in California are violating the California Invasion of Privacy act every day.
Our Arcadia Hospital class action lawyers want to hear about your experiences encountering the illegal use of these data collection tools – contact us today for a consultation to see if you have a case.