Google Class Action Filed Over Shared University of Chicago Patient Records

A recent class action claims that Google wrongfully got ahold of University of Chicago’s medical records without patient consent.

According to plaintiff Matt Dinerstein, Google came across medical records that had been deidentified. This means that the records have been stripped of all information that could be used to identify the patient such as names, locations, date of birth, Social Security numbers, and more.

Google allegedly used data mining to re-identify these records, meaning that they were able to link private health information to individual patients.

In his class action lawsuit against Google and the University of Chicago, Dinerstein calls this violation of patient privacy “the greatest heist of consumer medical records in history.”

“Ultimately, by getting the university to turn over these records, Google quietly pulled off a feat that other tech giants (like Facebook) have had to abandon under mounting public pressure for other gross privacy violations,” the Google class action lawsuit claims.

“And as if all of this weren’t bad enough, the university also engaged in a cover-up to keep the breach out of the public eye so as to avoid the public backlash.”

Google allegedly approached the University of Chicago in 2017 after its previous attempts to get ahold of medical records were denied.

According to the Google class action, the university medical center was allegedly “happy to turn over the confidential, highly sensitive and HIPAA protected records of every patient who walked through its doors between 2009 and 2016.”

Dinerstein takes issue with the university’s willingness to turn over patient information saying that the medical center had promised “in its patient admission forms that it would not disclose patients’ records to third parties, like Google, for commercial purposes.”

The Google class action lawsuit claims that the University of Chicago knowingly violated HIPAA by sharing patient information.

Claims in the Google class action include violations of consumer protection laws, breach of express contract, breach of implied contract, intrusion upon seclusion, tortious interference with contract and unjust enrichment.

The University of Chicago Medical Center reportedly denies the allegations brought in the Google class action lawsuit and will be defending themselves against the claims.

“The Medical Center entered into a research partnership with Google as part of the Medical Center’s continuing efforts to improve the lives of its patients,” a university spokesperson told Law360 in an email statement. “That research partnership was appropriate and legal and the claims asserted in this case are baseless and a disservice to the Medical Center’s fundamental mission of improving the lives of its patients.”

Dinerstein seeks to represent a Class of individuals whose electronic health records were transferred to Google by the University of Chicago.

The Google class action lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, actual damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Dinerstein and the proposed Class are represented by Jay Edelson, Benjamin H. Richman, Christopher L. Dore, J. Eli Wade-Scott and Michael W. Ovca of Edelson PC.

The Google Medical Records Class Action Lawsuit is Dinerstein v. Google LLC, et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-04311, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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