Plaintiff argued (with no opposition from the defendant),
Proceeding under a pseudonym is appropriate in this appeal because the facts of the underlying case directly relate to Plaintiff's sensitive health information. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Capital Health installed a tracking pixel on its website that transmits its patients' names and protected health information (PHI) to third parties, including Facebook and Google, without its patients' consent. This PHI is highly sensitive and includes confidential information that patients communicated to Capital Health's website, such as the types of medical appointments they made, the date of their appointments, and the specific doctors who treated them.
While this appeal focuses solely on Capital Health's conduct and whether it meets the test for federal officer jurisdiction, information regarding Plaintiff's PHI will necessarily be disclosed during the litigation of the appeal. Accordingly, it is necessary to continue proceeding with the use of a pseudonym to protect the confidentiality of Plaintiff's medical information.
Plaintiff[ has] a strong privacy interest in proceeding under a pseudonym as this case implicates her medical privacy. Indeed, the very core of Plaintiff's claims is that Capital Health is unlawfully disclosing information regarding her identities and medical treatment to third-parties. If Plaintiff were required to publicly disclose her name in connection with this lawsuit, she would therefore suffer the very harm for which they seek redress….
