A US eyewear retailer faces a revived privacy lawsuit after a federal appeals court reversed the dismissal of claims that it shared customers’ health-related information with Meta.
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it → face → Meta
In
Rand v. Eyemart Express, five Facebook users allege that a Meta Pixel tracking tool on the retailer’s website transmitted information about their prescription-eyewear searches, prescription details and eye-exam scheduling activity to Meta without their consent.
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tool → allege → consent
A Texas federal court dismissed the case with prejudice, but on October 23, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed that decision and remanded the case for further proceedings.
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Court → dismiss → proceedings
The court held that the customers had standing and had adequately alleged that their health information was shared with Meta, sending the case back to the district court to reconsider their claims.
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information → hold → claims
The ruling does not determine whether Eyemart Express violated any law.
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Express → determine → law
The court noted that the parties cited, and it knew of, no earlier circuit ruling on Pixel tracking of health information specifically.
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it → note → information
Eyemart Express Meta Pixel lawsuit: what customers allege about prescription data, eye exams and Facebook tracking
Eyemart Express operates physical stores and a website where customers can browse products, purchase prescription eyewear and schedule eye exams.
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customers → allege → exams
According to the complaint, the retailer used Meta Pixel, a tracking tool that collects information about users’ activity on third-party websites and helps Meta build profiles for targeted advertising.
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Meta → accord → advertising
The plaintiffs allege that the tool transmitted their website activity to Meta without their knowledge or consent.
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tool → allege → knowledge
The five plaintiffs divide themselves into two groups.
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plaintiffs → divide → groups
The Search Plaintiffs say they browsed the website for prescription glasses, triggering the Pixel to track their activity.
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they → say → activity
One of them also alleges that, when she scheduled an eye exam, the tool sent Meta the name and location of the Eyemart store she visited.
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she → allege → store
The Prescription Plaintiffs say they purchased prescription eyewear from Eyemart, entered their prescription information on the website and had that information shared with Meta.
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information → say → Meta
All five plaintiffs had Facebook accounts containing personal information, including their names and photographs.
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plaintiffs → have → names
They allege that Meta could combine this information with activity tracked on Eyemart’s website to identify them and deliver targeted advertisements.
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Meta → allege → advertisements
They also allege that Eyemart uploaded customer lists containing email addresses and purchase information, including details of prescription eyewear customers had purchased or viewed, so Meta could match those records to Facebook profiles.
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Meta → allege → profiles
The customers sued under the federal Wiretap Act, the Missouri Wiretap Act and the Illinois Eavesdropping Act.
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customers → sue → Act
They also brought claims involving intrusion upon seclusion and breach of contract.
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They → bring → contract
These remain allegations, not established findings of liability.
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These → remain → liability
In reviewing the dismissal, the Fifth Circuit accepted the complaint’s factual allegations as true, as required at this stage of litigation.
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Circuit → review → litigation
Fifth Circuit ruling on Meta Pixel health data: why the court reversed the dismissal
The panel was Judges Haynes, Higginson and Ho, and Judge Stephen A. Higginson wrote the opinion.
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Higginson → reverse → opinion
The court first addressed standing, the legal requirement that plaintiffs demonstrate a sufficient personal stake in a dispute to bring it before a federal court.
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plaintiffs → address → court
Eyemart renewed its argument that the customers lacked standing, but the Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court that the alleged unauthorised disclosure of individually identifiable health information constituted a concrete and particularised injury.
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disclosure → renew → injury
It considered the alleged privacy harm comparable to harms recognised in traditional privacy claims.
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harm → consider → claims
The court therefore held that the plaintiffs had standing to sue.
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plaintiffs → hold → standing
The court then examined the two grounds on which the district court had dismissed the case.
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court → examine → case
The first was that the Search Plaintiffs had not adequately alleged that they shared individually identifiable health information with Eyemart.
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they → allege → Eyemart
The second was that the plaintiffs had not adequately alleged that their health information was transmitted to Meta.
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information → allege → Meta
The Fifth Circuit disagreed on both points.
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Circuit → disagree → points
It followed the parties’ approach of using HIPAA’s definition of individually identifiable health information as a framework for assessing the allegations.
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It → follow → allegations
The court explained that such information need not consist solely of a specific diagnosis or prescription.
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information → explain → diagnosis
Information relating to a person’s health or the provision of healthcare services may also fall within the definition when it identifies the individual.
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it → relate → individual
The Search Plaintiffs alleged that their searches for prescription eyewear and their interactions with eye-exam scheduling services generated information that the Pixel transmitted to Meta.
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Pixel → allege → Meta
One plaintiff alleged that the tool shared the name and location of the store she visited when scheduling an appointment.
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she → allege → appointment
The court concluded that these activities could relate to the plaintiffs’ health and the provision of healthcare services.
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activities → conclude → services
For the Prescription Plaintiffs, the district court had accepted that they shared health information with Eyemart by entering prescription details but found the allegations of disclosure to Meta insufficient.
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allegations → accept → Meta
The appeals court said the lower court had focused too narrowly on sample illustrations in the complaint while overlooking other allegations about tracked product views, purchases, appointment details and customer-list uploads.
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court → say → views
Taken together, those allegations were sufficient to plead that the Pixel transmitted health-related information to Meta.
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Pixel → take → Meta
The court stressed that, without discovery, plaintiffs cannot be expected to know much more at this early stage.
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plaintiffs → stress → stage
It explained that a motion to dismiss tests the sufficiency of the pleadings, not the merits of the case.
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motion → explain → case
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
