Vita v. New England Baptist

Question Presented

The issue is whether patients reasonably expect that when seeking information from the website about specific symptoms, conditions, and medical procedures that their inquiries about such medical issues would be automatically shared with tech companies and advertisers.

The Case

This case concerns hospitals that used undisclosed tracking software, such as Meta or Google’s pixels, to collect and disclose patients’ private health information. The lead plaintiff, Ms. Vita, alleged that such surreptitious collection of her personal information from communications with the hospitals violated her reasonable expectation of privacy and constituted a wiretap under Massachusetts’ Wiretap Act.

EPIC and NCLC’s Brief

EPIC and NCLC’s brief supports Plaintiffs’ arguments in three ways. First, state and federal wiretap laws protect consumers against invasions of privacy and should extend to these types of online disclosures in the digital age. Second, the hospitals failed to disclose such tracking and sharing of health information and the hospitals at issue should not be free from liability by disclosing such collection and sharing in the future. Third, the non-consensual sharing of private medical information constitutes an injury that provides plaintiffs with standing.

Legal Documents

• EPIC and NCLC’s Brief
• Defendants-Appellants’ Application For Direct Appellate Review