PolicyGenius, an online insurance broker, is facing a class action lawsuit for allegedly allowing Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, to track user activity and collect private user information.
The suit was filed by plaintiff Valerie Torres on behalf of herself and all others allegedly similarly situated. The complaint accuses PolicyGenius of illegally disclosing consumers' personally identifiable information and protected health information to Meta and other third parties through its website.
The lawsuit alleges that despite assuring users that their information would be kept secure, PolicyGenius intentionally installed a tracking pixel on its website to duplicate and send customers' private communications to Facebook without their knowledge or consent. This allegedly included sensitive health and financial data shared by customers seeking quotes for life insurance and disability insurance.
According to the filing, the tracking pixel can monitor actions such as how long a person spends on a particular web page, which buttons they click, which pages they view, and what they type into various parts of the website. It's alleged that PolicyGenius used this data for marketing purposes to build detailed customer profiles for targeted advertising.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages, including punitive damages and attorney fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorney John J. Nelson, of the firm of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, of Beverly Hills.