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Life Health > Running Your Business > Selling

Federal Court Rules in Favor of Allstate in Privacy Case

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A federal court judge has sided with Allstate in a case involving a website customer tracking service that recorded the health information customers entered into underwriting forms.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley issued an order dismissing a suit filed by Conrad James against Allstate’s Allstate Insurance Company unit.

The judge gave James permission to file a new version of the complaint by Feb. 5.

Representatives for James, Allstate and Heap did not respond to requests for comments on the case.

What it means: The Allstate case is a part of an avalanche of suits that plaintiffs have filed in connection with consumer-facing companies’ use of ordinary web traffic analysis systems.

This particular case could affect any companies that are using standard “customary journey” tracking tools while collecting information about the age, height, weight, health status and other health-related characteristics of the visitors.

The ruling in the Allstate case may be a sign that, even in a case involving insurance companies, visitor-tracking systems and sensitive health information, plaintiffs may have a hard time prevailing.

The quote search: James used his mobile phone and a computer to search for an insurance quote on Allstate’s website in November and December 2022.

He entered his email address, age, height, weight, use of prescription drugs, and use of tobacco.

Heap — a company that stores website users’ keystroke data and analyzes the users’ “customer journeys” — recorded the underwriting information.

The case: James started out by filing a suit in state court in San Francisco. He has been seeking class-action status.

The case was later moved to federal court under the federal Class Action Fairness Act.

Corley found that James made a plausible claim that the Heap tracking system might have violated his privacy by recording the underwriting information he entered.

But the judge ruled that James had not made a plausible claim that Allstate or Heap was guilty of wiretapping, engaging in highly offensive content or depriving him of data with a compensable value.

The judge noted that the defendants had collected only “limited and routine information that the plaintiff himself voluntarily provided in the course of applying for an insurance quote.

Credit: Adobe Stock


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