EPIC Urges 7th Circuit to Uphold Wiretap Act to Protect Private Communications Containing Sensitive Health Data  

EPIC submitted an amicus brief in Stein v. Edward-Elmhurst Health, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to apply the Wiretap Act’s crime-tort exception to the Defendant’s practice of disclosing patient’s MyChart portal information to Meta. The Defendant, a large health system, embedded the Meta Pixel and other third-party tracking technologies into its webpages, which automatically collect and disclose visitors’ information to unknown companies largely for the purpose of targeted advertising. 

The case centers on the Wiretap Act which prohibits the unlawful interception of communications to protect private communications from unauthorized access by third parties. The Act generally applies a one-consent rule which prevents liability for a party that discloses a communication to which it was a party. But the crime-tort exception prohibits a party from disclosing a communication for the purpose of committing an unlawful act.  

EPIC’s brief argues that the health system’s disclosure of protected health information from patients’ MyChart portals constitutes an impermissible violation of HIPAA—unlawful conduct that triggers the crime-tort exception.  

This case is one of many in the trend of Big Tech advertising companies’ push to undo internet users’ privacy protections to insulate their invasive commercial surveillance practices, including targeted advertising.