Class-action lawsuits accuse Kroger of sharing customers' health care data

[retailfanmitchell019]

We have yet another problem that could affect the Merger From Hell: https://archive.is/20231121172917/https ... -data.html
"The plaintiffs, known only as Jane Doe in the court filing, claim Kroger released health information to Facebook parent Meta and others without the patients’ knowledge or consent, according to the lawsuits. They claim Kroger did this by installing tracking tools on its website that enabled health care information patients entered on the website so they could get prescriptions filled to be shared with Meta and others. That information was not anonymous and was personally identifiable, the lawsuits state. The data revealed medications and details about health care the patients sought. Customers didn’t know their information was being tracked and shared, according to the filings."

[storewanderer]

I don't see this impacting the merger but it is definitely a problem.

There may be language somewhere in their pharmacy terms and conditions that they may share information with "business partners" though. Since it is health information this adds another big mess to it. There also must be a way to "opt out" of any such sharing. This goes for pretty much anyone you give your personal information to - banks, loyalty cards at retailers, random websites for shipping, etc. There is always a privacy policy worth reading and making sure to "opt out" of any information sharing with "business partners."

[ClownLoach]

We have yet another problem that could affect the Merger From Hell: https://archive.is/20231121172917/https ... -data.html
"The plaintiffs, known only as Jane Doe in the court filing, claim Kroger released health information to Facebook parent Meta and others without the patients’ knowledge or consent, according to the lawsuits. They claim Kroger did this by installing tracking tools on its website that enabled health care information patients entered on the website so they could get prescriptions filled to be shared with Meta and others. That information was not anonymous and was personally identifiable, the lawsuits state. The data revealed medications and details about health care the patients sought. Customers didn’t know their information was being tracked and shared, according to the filings."

This sounds like an AI driven lawsuit mill that dug through the various user agreements and such in search of loopholes. Nobody is really a victim of anything other than the theoretical possibility that someone could have opened that door. Unfortunately these glorified spell checkers that lawyers are turning loose on the internet to try to search for revenues are going to continue to create questionable lawsuits. This will have no effect whatsoever on the merger as they probably get dozens of these lawsuits every day, this one just happened to get publicity. Companies the size of Kroger get sued thousands of times each month and it's never been a deterrent to mergers. No news here, move on.