Aspen Dental class action claims company shares private data with third parties

Aspen Dental class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Six plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Aspen Dental Management Inc.
• Why: Aspen allegedly installed tracking software on its website and shared private data with third parties like Facebook and Google.
• Where: The Aspen data privacy lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court.

Aspen Dental Management Inc. installed tracking software on its website and shares private healthcare data with third parties, an Aspen Dental data privacy class action lawsuit alleges.

A group of six plaintiffs filed the Aspen Dental class action lawsuit Feb. 16 in Illinois federal court. The plaintiffs claim they are longtime Aspen patients and that they use the Aspen website to make appointments and review dental procedures.

They say they trusted their private information would be kept confidential and would only be used for authorized purposes. They also say they would not have entrusted their sensitive data to Aspen Dental if they had known their private data would be shared with third parties without their authorization.

Aspen Dental has more than 900 locations throughout the United States and its network serves around 35,000 patients per day, the Aspen data privacy lawsuit says.

Aspen Dental class action: Private information was shared with Facebook, Google

Aspen Dental’s website allows users to search for information about specific dental conditions, search for dentists and make appointments. To use these website features, users must provide personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).

“The users of Aspen’s site understandably thought that they were communicating only with their trusted healthcare provider but, in reality, Aspen installed tracking pixels and other technologies on its site to collect and disclose confidential private information to third parties,” the Aspen Dental class action lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiffs say Aspen disclosed confidential private information to entities such as Google, Facebook, Bing, Salesforce and other marketing data brokers.

Aspen Dental’s privacy policy assures users their private health information will only be disclosed when it is necessary “for treatment, payment and healthcare operations” unless a user provides written authorization to share their information, the Aspen Dental data privacy lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs claim Aspen made the decision to use tracking technology on its site and configured the technology to acquire users’ private information without their consent, in violation of its own privacy policy and the laws of various states.

“This disclosed private information allows third parties like Facebook and other third parties to know that a specific patient is seeking confidential medical care and the type of medical care being sought,” the Aspen Dental class action lawsuit states. “Third parties then use this information — without patient consent — to target them with advertisements.”

The Aspen data privacy lawsuit asserts claims for violations of the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, negligence, invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment and breach of implied contract, as well as violations of various state laws.

Aspen Dental recently agreed to settle a class action lawsuit claiming it violated Florida telemarketing laws by sending unsolicited text messages.

What do you think about the alleged Aspen Dental data privacy violations? Join the discussion in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by David S. Almeida and Britany A. Kabakov of Almeida Law Group LLC.

The Aspen data privacy class action lawsuit is C.C., et al. v. Aspen Dental Management Inc., Case No. 1:24-cv-01353, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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