Square Class Action Alleges Misuse of Medical Receipts

A class action lawsuit asserts that Square, a point-of-sale and payment software provider, fails to sufficiently protect the data of its customers.

The Square class action lawsuit was filed by A. Trent Ruark who says he is the patient of a health care provider that uses Square for payment processing.

Allegedly, he paid for medical services on May 3, 2019 using Square but the invoice was sent via text message to a friend of his instead of to him directly.

Ruark states that he does not know how his friend’s contact information became associated with his card or with the transaction with the medical provider. The plaintiff also says that he did not give consent to have his medical information shared with others.

The Square personal records class action lawsuit says that Ruark’s information was improperly shared with another person because Square fails to enact security measures that protect receipts sent by Square from being shared with third parties.

The Square class action lawsuit asserts that the use of insecure communications to send personally identifiable medical information represents a violation of both state and federal law.

The laws that Ruark says have been violated include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, and the California Medical Information Act.

Ruark asserts that he was among many individuals who were injured by Square’s failure to use protected communications.

He seeks damages for himself and for all other similarly affected individuals whose protected personal and medical information was compromised because Square was negligent in its approach to medical billing.

The plaintiff is seeking damages, restitution, and relief for himself and others, and seeks an injunction requiring Square to “implement and maintain effective security practices that comply with regulations designed to prevent and remedy these types of data breaches.”

The Square class action lawsuit goes on to assert that many customers do not have a choice whether or not they use Square’s point-of-sale and payment software products because many small businesses use it for transactions.

Allegedly, Square contracts with businesses and not directly with their customers who use the credit cards entered into Square’s system.

Ruark uses this to claim that customers’ information is exposed to Square whether or not they want it to be.

The Square personal information class action lawsuit goes on to say that Square also markets its goods and services to medical professionals including doctors. Based on this, the personal data class action lawsuit says that Square knows that their services are being used in the medical field and therefore should be secured in accordance with the law.

Allegedly, Square automatically and by default sends customers a receipt for a transaction unless they opt out. To do this, Square associates a credit card number with a cell number or an email address, and causes automatic receipts to be sent there for all future transactions.

The Square class action claims the company does not disclose that it may send future medical invoices to the provided phone number or email address, nor does Square seek or obtain customer consent to send the electronic medical invoices.

Ruark is represented by Jeffrey R. Krinsk and Trenton R. Kashima of Finkelstein & Krinsk LLP.

The Square Invoice Class Action Lawsuit is A. Trent Ruark v. Square Inc., Case No. 3:19-cv-01196-PGC-KSC, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. 

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