Middle District of Tennessee sets schedule for class action against Unlock Health over alleged patient data sharing with Google
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A federal court order establishes deadlines for a class action lawsuit alleging Unlock Health illegally shared sensitive patient health risk data with Google and TikTok.
A federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee has established a multi-year timeline for a proposed class action lawsuit against Unlock Health, Inc. and its subsidiaries. The plaintiffs, identified as John, Jane, and Jack Doe, allege the company illegally shared sensitive patient health information with Google and TikTok through online marketing tools. According to a case management order published by CourtListener, Magistrate Judge Lynda M. Hill signed off on the schedule on August 24, 2026. The order follows an initial case management conference held on August 20, 2026, involving representatives for the plaintiffs and defendants Unlock Health, Medicom Digital, Inc., and Medicom Health. The lawsuit claims that Unlock Health secretly deployed tracking technologies within online Health Risk Assessment (HRA) forms. Patients used these forms to screen for conditions including anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and lung cancer. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants transmitted protected health information, including risk assessment scores, names, and email addresses, to third parties like Google and TikTok without patient consent. The court has confirmed jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act. The plaintiffs are seeking to represent a nationwide class for alleged violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The suit also includes California state-law claims for negligence and violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. Unlock Health denies the allegations. In court filings, the company argues it didn't surreptitiously disclose information for improper purposes. The defense maintains that the data in question, pulled from public-facing pages, wasn't identifiable protected health information. They characterize the plaintiffs' claims as speculative and based on general assertions about cookies and URLs rather than concrete harm. The litigation is set to be a long-term process. Judge Hill set the deadline for amended pleadings for May 10, 2027. Discovery is due by September 16, 2026, and dispositive motions are not due until February 1, 2028. Disputes remain regarding the structure of the discovery process. Defendants have indicated they intend to move for a stay of discovery while a pending motion to dismiss is decided. They've also suggested bifurcating discovery between class certification and the merits of the case. Plaintiffs oppose this, arguing that the two issues are intertwined and that splitting them would cause unnecessary delays and duplicative work. The parties are under a court mandate to attempt settlement at least twice. The first status report on these settlement efforts is due by March 31, 2027. The order specifies that the parties must exchange enough information to substantively evaluate the case before that date. The case, Doe v. Unlock Health, Inc. (Case No. 3:26-cv-00289), is being overseen by District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, Jr. and Magistrate Judge Lynda M. Hill. The plaintiffs seek damages exceeding 5,000,000 dollars on behalf of a class of at least 100 members.
Source: CourtListener