Dinerstein v. Google

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing plaintiff’s class action, alleging violations of Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, as well as breach of contract, unjust enrichment, interference with contract and intrusion upon seclusion claims, arising out of defendant-University’s transfer of plaintiff’s anonymized medical records to defendant-Google for purposes of advancing research project designed to develop software capable of anticipating patients’ future healthcare needs. Plaintiff lacked standing to bring instant claims, where plaintiff failed to allege that he suffered injury in fact that was concrete and particularized, actual or imminent and was otherwise traceable to defendants’ conduct. Fact that plaintiff claimed potential risk that he might be identified from instant records in future was insufficient to confer standing, especially where plaintiff had not alleged that defendant-Google took any steps to identify him. Plaintiff also could not obtain standing on his breach of contract claim alleging that transfer of his medical records by University represented compensable “overpayment” that he made to University for his medical care. Ct. further rejected plaintiff’s contention that any breach of contract allegation, by itself, establishes concrete injury.