Privacy class action tossed vs food banks, Meta over Pixel trackers – California
Privacy class action tossed vs food banks, Meta over Pixel trackers – California
Publish Date: 2026-05-19 16:38:00
Source Domain: blackchronicle.com
A federal judge has pushed back on a class action accusing Meta and several California food banks of violating a state privacy law through deployment of tracking technology installed on the banks’ websites.
In an April 27 opinion, U.S. District Judge Laurel Beeler granted a motion to dismiss the complaint from five people whose claims implicated the websites of four nonprofit agencies: Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Central California Food Bank and San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. The plaintiffs alleged improper disclosure of financial and medical data to Meta through its Pixel tool, which links website usage to individual Facebook or Instagram accounts to generate targeted advertisements.
Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The complaint, which the plaintiffs sought to convert to a class action, asserted violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act and other privacy laws against all defendants while adding claims against Meta for Federal Wiretap Act violations and unjust enrichment. They also accused all the food banks for negligence and specifically alleged the San Francisco-Marin bank violated the California Consumer Privacy Act.
In arguing for dismissal, Meta said the plaintiffs consented to supplying their information and the food banks contended the complaint didn’t plausibly allege a concrete injury, while the Los Angeles food bank said the class definition was overbroad.
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In their complaint, three plaintiffs said they entered home addresses when using food bank websites to find distribution points, and alleged that after they “electronically communicated their intent to receive nutrition assistance,” and then were “repeatedly targeted with ads directed at their financial hardships.”
Beeler said those allegations didn’t sufficiently constitute a legal injury, noting the lack of citation to “any case where disclosing a plaintiff’s accessing a…
