April 18, 2023
A group of Facebook users accusing Meta of using its Pixel tool to collect data from millions of hospital patients says discovery in their case should not be coordinated with other suits targeting the Pixel software, warning a California judge that coordination would catalyze a “quagmire” of delay, confusion and prejudice.
Meta Platforms Inc. on April 13 filed a request to coordinate discovery among cases contesting Meta Pixel, a code snippet and user tracking tool embedded in many websites. But the patients say Meta didn’t file its request in their litigation — only in the two other cases — forcing them to file a Monday statement opposing the request.
The two other actions at issue include one from anonymous Facebook users who in December hit Meta with a proposed class action accusing the social media giant of collecting sensitive taxpayer information from certain tax filing websites with the Pixel tool. Another class action, also filed in December, contends Pixel is embedded on the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ website, allowing Meta to obtain vast amounts of protected data on a daily basis from the DMV.
The three actions vary in size and in their state of discovery, the patients argued, and coordinating their discovery would sow chaos.
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The health care plaintiffs are represented by Geoffrey Graber of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Jason “Jay” Barnes of Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC, Jeffrey A. Koncius of Kiesel Law LLP, Beth E. Terrell of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, and Andre M. Mura of Gibbs Law Group LLP.
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