Oklahoma lawsuit claims Integris let patient information to be tracked for advertising
A Bethany man is suing Integris Health, alleging that the largest Oklahoma-owned health system violated privacy laws by allowing third parties to harvest personal health care information for advertising purposes.
Filed this week under John Doe, the class-action lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court claims companies including Meta, Google, Microsoft and Reddit gained personal information from patients who used Integris Health’s website to learn about physicians, health conditions and treatment options, among other services.
He claims in the lawsuit the practice is “outrageous, illegal and widespread.”
In a statement, Integris denied the claims and said it takes patient privacy seriously:
“Generally, we do not comment on ongoing litigation matters. However, Integris Health does not use the pixels in question on our website as a regular advertising practice. This case is similar to several national class action lawsuits targeting more than 600 health systems across the country alleging the providers used 'Meta pixel' website codes to potentially share confidential medical information of patients via social media tracking tools.”
Indeed, health care systems across the country, as well as Meta, the behemoth tech company that owns Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, have found themselves mired in class action lawsuits related to privacy matters.
One such case survived a motion to dismiss in San Francisco federal court in May.
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Oklahoman claims Integris allowed digital tracking tools to take his health data
In Oklahoma County, John Doe claims to have been an Integris Health patient since 2017 and treated for gastroenterology, cardiology, sleep apnea, asthma and emergency care issues.
He accuses Integris Health of allowing on its website digital tracking tools — known as “pixels” — that enabled his health information to be captured and transmitted to Facebook and other third parties.
His lawsuit claims Integris Health installed a Meta pixel to track visitors.
By installing the Meta pixel on its website, the lawsuit claims, Integris Health “effectively planted a bug” on John Doe’s web browsers and the web browsers of other patients, “and compelled them to disclose private information and confidential communications to Facebook without their authorization or knowledge.”
A pixel tracker is a small piece of code placed into a website or ad to track a person’s behavior on a website, like search terms used, purchases or pageviews, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Pixel tracking can be used to target specific audiences with advertising.
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GoodRx, BetterHelp subject of similar lawsuits
The FTC recently took action against GoodRx and BetterHelp, two digital health care platforms, for allegedly engaging in the practice.
In February, federal prosecutors announced GoodRx was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million and take corrective action to prevent future unauthorized disclosures of its users’ health information.
In a March settlement with the FTC, the online counseling service BetterHelp agreed to pay $7.8 million to consumers to settle charges that it revealed consumers’ sensitive data with third parties such as Facebook and Snapchat after promising to keep the data private.
The lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court claims negligence, invasion of privacy, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and violation of the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act.
In addition to a jury trial and damages, John Doe is asking the court to order Integris Health to pay for no less than three years of credit monitoring services.
His attorney declined to comment for this story.
Meta, Google, Microsoft and Reddit did not respond with statements to The Oklahoman.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma suit Integris Health, claims Meta, Google had access to health info
