LinkedIn can’t dodge claims it tracked users’ medical data | Courthouse News Service

Users claim in a class action that LinkedIn’s Insight Tag, a tracking pixel the job networking site provides to advertisers, accessed health information without their knowledge. (CN) — A federal judge on Friday rejected attempts by LinkedIn and other tech companies to toss out the bulk of consumer privacy claims asserting the companies secretly tracked users’ sensitive medical information across healthcare websites without their knowledge or consent. Senior U.S. District Judge Edward Davila ruled that it is plausible that consumers had no idea how much of their private medical data was being collected by LinkedIn’s tracking software and that the company’s data practices could constitute a “highly offensive” intrusion into their privacy. “Given the nature of LinkedIn’s alleged conduct and the sensitivity of the information shared here, the court finds this issue is inappropriate to resolve at the pleadings stage,” Davila wrote. Davila, a Barack Obama appointee, permitted key privacy claims to proceed, particularly those asserting eavesdropping and constitutional privacy violations. He found that the named plaintiffs, four LinkedIn users, sufficiently stated they had a reasonable expectation of privacy in their communications with health care providers and that LinkedIn’s conduct could be considered highly offensive. He said that exchanges between
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