DSIR Deeper Dive: Tracking The Crackdown On Tracking/Pixel Technologies: Web Litigation And Regulatory Landscape – Part 1

Regulatory action and class action lawsuits related to pixels and other website technologies continued to surge in 2023 and 2024, particularly in the healthcare industry. The FTC and HHS OCR doubled down on their previously issued guidance, sending joint letters to specific hospital systems and telehealth providers warning that use of third-party web technologies may result in impermissible disclosures of individuals' PHI and ominously stressing that "[b]oth agencies are closely watching developments in this area." Hospitals went on the offensive against HHS OCR's pixel guidance, and at the same time we saw more class action settlements related to hospital systems' use of web tracking technology. The FTC announced significant settlements with Internet-based healthcare providers and also issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the existing health breach notification rule to focus significantly on entities' (not subject to HIPAA) sharing of website visitor