Kaiser Permanente Settlement Over Web Tracker Data Breach
Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay up to $47.5 million to settle consolidated class action lawsuits alleging that the healthcare provider's use of web tracking codes on its websites, patient portals, and mobile apps resulted in the unauthorized sharing of sensitive patient information with third-party technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, and X (formerly Twitter). The lawsuits claimed that these embedded trackers violated federal and state laws by disclosing protected health information to external entities without patient consent, leading to a significant HIPAA breach.
The incident, reported to federal regulators in April 2024, affected approximately 13.4 million individuals and was the second largest health data breach reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that year. The settlement addresses allegations that Kaiser Permanente's practices compromised the privacy and security of patient data, highlighting ongoing concerns about the use of third-party tracking technologies in healthcare digital platforms.
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