WebMD class action alleges company illegally shared users’ data with Facebook

WebMD class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: A judge has certified a class action lawsuit filed against WebMD.
• Why: The class action alleges WebMD shared users’ personally identifiable information with Facebook without their consent.
• Where: The WebMD class action lawsuit was filed in Georgia federal court.

A Georgia judge has certified a nationwide class action lawsuit alleging WebMD shared users’ personally identifiable information with Facebook without their consent.

Plaintiff Linda Jancik alleges the company violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and its Amendments Act of 2012  by installing a Facebook Pixel tracking tool on its website. The VPPA prohibits videotape service providers from disclosing personally identifiable information without the consumer’s informed, written consent.

Jancik’s lawsuit claims the tool enabled WebMD to disclose users’ video-viewing activity to Facebook without their knowledge.

The lawsuit further alleges that for users subscribed to WebMD’s newsletter, the Pixel transmitted their email addresses to Facebook, further facilitating the matching of activity to Facebook profiles.

Jancik seeks to represent a class of individuals whose video-viewing behavior on WebMD’s site was shared with Facebook between February 2020 and the date the class notice is disseminated.

WebMD class action lawsuit alleges the company used Facebook Pixel since 2020

The WebMD class action lawsuit claims the company has used the Facebook Pixel since at least 2020 to track user activity.

Jancik claims that the Pixel also transmitted a “c_user” cookie containing the user’s unique Facebook ID for users logged into their Facebook accounts while browsing WebMD. This, she argues, allowed Facebook to match the user’s activity to their profile, enabling WebMD to send targeted ads to those users on Facebook.

“WebMD directed the Facebook Pixel to collect and transmit to Facebook information such as the URL of the web pages a user views, users’ button clicks on those webpages, and the titles and descriptions of videos on those webpages,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit seeks damages of $2,500 for each VPPA violation.

In 2020, another WebMD class action lawsuit claimed the website violated California privacy law by recording its visitors.

Have you had your video viewing data shared with Facebook by WebMD? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Joshua D. Arisohn, Philip L. Fraietta and Alec M. Leslie of Bursor & Fisher PA and W. Daniel ‘Dee’ Miles III, J. Mitch Williams and H. Clay Barnett III of Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles PC.

The WebMD class action lawsuit is Jancik, et al. v. WebMD LLC, Case No. 1:22-cv-00644-TWT in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

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