Markovits, Stock & DeMarco, LLC, a law firm experienced in data breach cases including Google and Meta (Facebook) pixel cases, is investigating claims on behalf of victims of a data breach involving private personal information and health information entrusted to Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco”). Costco is an international retailer based in Issaquah, Washington that operates membership only warehouse clubs throughout the world. Costco employs more than 300,000 people, has millions of members, and has sales in excess of $222 billion. If you provided personal information on Costco Wholesale’s website, app, and/or patient pharmacy portal, please contact us as soon as possible to understand your legal rights in response to the data breach.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Costco provides online pharmaceutical services to its members and non-member patients, including new prescription filling, prescription refills, home delivery, warehouse pickup appointments, and other pharmaceutical related services. Costco may have installed Meta (Facebook) “pixels” on its website exposing its patients’ personal health information when the patient was accessing the Costco website, specifically on the “Pharmacy” web page, and when the member or patient was entering data into the Costco website for what he or she believed was only being viewed with Costco, but was also being accessed and tracked by Facebook/ Meta without the patients’ knowledge.
HOW DOES A FACEBOOK/META PIXEL COLLECT DATA?
The Meta Pixel is a snippet of code tracking users as they navigate through a website, logging which pages they visit, which buttons they click, and certain information they enter into forms. When medical and pharmaceutical providers install the Meta Pixel, Meta/Facebook on their websites, the Meta Pixel provides website owners’ analytics about the ads they’ve placed on Facebook and Instagram and tools to target people who’ve visited their website. Meta then targets the medical and pharmaceutical providers’ websites’ users with ads on Facebook, using the information Pixel collected from hospital websites and patient portals by matching user information with their Facebook accounts.
WHAT INFORMATION WAS LIKLEY EXPOSED IN THE COSTCO PIXEL DATA BREACH?
Costco’s Pharmacy page requested patients and potential patients to enter personal health information when interfacing with Costco online. A Meta Pixel is believed to have been attached to the Costco Pharmacy page wherein Facebook.com was able to review and access the potential patients’ information.
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I SHARED MY PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH COSCTO WHOLESALE THROUGH THE “PHARMACY” PAGE?
If you would like to have a free, confidential consultation with an attorney to learn more about your rights and potential legal remedies related to the Costco pixel data breach, please contact Markovits, Stock & DeMarco, LLC attorney Justin C. Walker at (513) 651-3700, email us at [email protected], or submit a Case Evaluation request through the form below.