Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital

Overview

(Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, October 24, 2024): The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that two hospitals did not violate Massachusetts’ wiretap law when they captured Vita’s personal information as she browsed the hospitals’ websites searching for health care providers to treat certain medical conditions. Although the hospitals did not collect personal medical information protected by federal and state privacy laws, they did collect information about the types of medical professionals Vita researched and they sold that information to third parties. The case turned on whether web browsing activity constitutes “communication” under the wiretap law. The Court found the statute ambiguous on that question and examined legislative history, which revealed that the law is intended to apply to covert interception of private, person-to-person conversations. Applying the “rule of lenity” that a criminal statute should be narrowly construed in favor of the accused, the Court dismissed Vita’s claims, holding that the wiretap law does not apply to intercepting web-browsing activity. Read the full Opinion here.

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – November 18, 2024.

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