Social media users denied preliminary injunction in privacy suit

Courts Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security Consumer Protection

On December 22, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction in a privacy suit. According to the order, the plaintiffs alleged that the social media company improperly acquired their confidential health information in violation of state and federal law and in contravention of the company’s own policies regarding the use and collection of users’ data. The plaintiffs alleged that each of their healthcare providers allegedly installed the company’s software, which is a free and publicly available piece of code that the company allows third-party website developers to install on their patient portals. When the plaintiffs logged into the portal on their medical provider’s website, the software allegedly transmitted certain information to the social media company. The plaintiffs claimed that the software allowed the company to intercept personally identifiable medical information and the content of patient communications for its financial gain. The court found,however, that though the plaintiffs “raise potentially strong claims on the merits and their alleged injury would be irreparable if proven,” the “plaintiffs need to show ‘that the law and facts clearly favor [their] position, not simply that [they are] likely to succeed.’” The court also noted that the company’s “core defense is that it has systems in place to address the receipt of the information at issue and that it would be unfairly burdensome and technologically infeasible for them to take further action.” The court continued, “[w]ithout further factual development, it is unclear where the truth lies, and plaintiffs do not meet the high standard required for a mandatory injunction.”