This settlement resolves claims that Wellstar Health System let tracking pixels on its website and patient portal disclose visitors' private information to Meta, Google and other third parties. If you are a U.S. resident whose information was shared that way between February 19, 2020 and July 22, 2026, you can claim a share of a $4.25 million fund — but the online form needs the Unique ID from your mailed notice.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to submit a claim online or by mail is November 10, 2026. The deadlines to opt out or object are earlier, and the official sources do not agree on them: the court-approved long-form notice states October 26, 2026, while the settlement website's FAQ page states November 10, 2026 — so anyone who wants to opt out or object should act by the earlier date. A final approval hearing is scheduled for December 1, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET before Judge J.P. Boulee in Atlanta. No final approval order has been entered and no payment date has been announced. Payments are made only if the court approves the settlement.What Changed Recently?
The case is Doe v. Wellstar Health System, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-01748, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, before Judge J.P. Boulee. Plaintiffs allege that Wellstar disclosed class members' personally identifiable information and protected health information to third parties — including Meta Platforms, Inc. and Google LLC — through tracking pixels, cookies and other tracking technologies installed on Wellstar's website and patient portal, and that deploying and using those technologies invaded class members' privacy.Wellstar denies the allegations and denies doing anything wrong. The court has not decided who is right; the parties agreed to settle instead. A settlement is a resolution of disputed claims, not a finding of liability.
What has changed for readers is that notice has now gone out and the claim window is live, with a November 10, 2026 filing deadline and a December 1, 2026 final approval hearing on the calendar.
This is one of a series of settlements involving health systems and third-party web trackers. If you have been notified about more than one, our pages on the Penn Medicine, Allina Health and Duke MyChart settlements cover those separately — each has its own class, deadline and claim process.
Who Qualifies?
You are a member of the settlement class if you are a person residing in the United States whose information was disclosed to a third party between February 19, 2020 and July 22, 2026 through tracking technologies on Wellstar's website and patient portal.Two things about that definition are worth drawing out. It is nationwide rather than limited to Georgia, where Wellstar operates — the test is where you reside, not where you were treated. And it does not, on its face, require that you were ever a Wellstar patient; it turns on whether your information was disclosed through the trackers on those web properties. In practice, most class members learn they qualify because a notice arrived, since the administrator works from the records identifying whose information was disclosed.
Excluded from the class are: any judge presiding over the action, that judge's staff, and immediate family members; officers and directors of Wellstar, along with its agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, parent companies, successors and predecessors, and any entity in which Wellstar or its parents hold a controlling interest; anyone who timely and validly opts out; the legal representatives, successors or assigns of any excluded person; and class counsel.
How Much Can You Get?
Wellstar agreed to pay $4,250,000 into a settlement fund. Class members who submit a valid claim share that fund on a pro rata basis — an equal share each — after the court-approved deductions come out.No per-person figure has been announced, and there is no way to publish an honest one yet: a pro rata payment depends on how many valid claims are filed, which is not known until the claim window closes. Treat any specific dollar figure you see quoted elsewhere for this settlement as a guess.
The deductions taken from the fund before payment are notice and settlement administration costs, court-approved attorneys' fees and expenses, and court-approved service awards. Class counsel will ask the court for attorneys' fees of one-third of the fund plus reimbursement of costs, and service awards of $2,500 each for the class representatives. The court may award less than what is requested, and it has not ruled.
Any money left in the net settlement fund after payments go out is to be issued to Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb, subject to court approval — a cy pres recipient, which is the standard way leftover settlement funds are handled when returning them to class members is not practical.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
Filing online requires the Unique ID printed on the notice mailed to you, plus a PIN. No receipts, medical records, or documentation of any loss are required. Because the portal is gated on an administrator-issued identifier, this page lists Proof Required: Yes — a claimant who never received the notice, or discarded it, cannot simply file online without it.A paper claim form is available for download on the settlement website and can be completed, signed, dated and mailed to the administrator instead. If you believe you are a class member and do not have your notice, the settlement website's contact page is the route to the administrator to ask about your Unique ID.
After an online submission you receive an email with a confirmation code. Keep it — it is what you reference if a question comes up later, and the administrator may contact you if more information is needed to process the claim.
What Are the Deadlines?
November 10, 2026 — claims. A claim must be submitted through the online portal or mailed and postmarked by this date. The notice does not specify a cutoff time or timezone, so treat it as a firm calendar date.December 1, 2026 — the final approval hearing, at 10:00 a.m. ET in Atlanta.
Opting out and objecting — the official sources conflict. The court-approved long-form notice states that an opt-out request must be postmarked by October 26, 2026 and that an objection must be received by the court by October 26, 2026 and served on counsel and the administrator postmarked by that date. The settlement website's FAQ page, however, currently gives November 10, 2026 for both. We are not able to determine from the public materials which date the court's order sets, and we are not going to guess.
The practical answer: if you intend to opt out or object, do it by October 26, 2026. Acting on the earlier date satisfies both versions; acting on the later one risks missing the deadline entirely if the notice is the controlling document. Anyone in that position should also confirm the date on the settlement website before mailing. Note too that opting out and objecting are different things and cannot be combined — see our guide to opting out of a class action.
One more timing note the notice itself raises: mail is not necessarily postmarked the day it goes into a mailbox, because postmarks happen when mail reaches a processing facility. For anything with a postmark deadline, mailing about a week early, getting a hand postmark at a post office counter, or using certified mail all remove that risk.
How Do You Take Action?
File through the official settlement website at Wellstar Data Privacy Settlement.com. The site carries the claim portal, a downloadable paper claim form, the long-form notice, the settlement agreement, and a contact page for the administrator.Doing nothing is a decision with consequences here. If you do nothing you stay in the class and are bound by the court's orders and the release — but you receive no payment, because payment requires a claim. Opting out is the only way to keep your right to sue separately, and it forfeits any payment.
If your mailing or email address changes after you file, notify the administrator in writing through the settlement website, since payment goes to the address on file. Filing is free, and you do not need to hire a lawyer — the court appointed Almeida Law Group LLC, Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise LLP, and Milberg LLC as class counsel, and they represent every class member.
What Happens Next?
At the final approval hearing on December 1, 2026, the court will decide whether to approve the settlement and will rule on class counsel's fee and cost request, the service awards, and any objections. The notice states the date and time may change without further notice and that the court may hold the hearing by video or telephone, so check the settlement website rather than assuming the date holds.Class members do not have to attend, and an objection filed by the deadline is considered whether or not the objector shows up. If approval is granted, pro rata payments follow — the notice says only that this takes time and directs class members to the settlement website for updates. No payment date has been announced as of August 27, 2026. If the court does not approve the settlement, no payments are made.
What the Release Covers
If the settlement is approved and becomes final, the court's orders and judgment bind every class member who did not opt out. That means giving up the right to start, continue, or take part in any other lawsuit against the released parties over the claims this settlement covers — whether or not you file a claim.The release itself is written out in Section X of the settlement agreement, which is posted on the settlement website. Anyone weighing whether the release is an acceptable trade should read that section rather than rely on a summary, this one included. The notice states that class members with questions about the release can contact class counsel at no cost, or consult their own lawyer at their own expense.
Sources and Verification
• Official Settlement Website — home, FAQs, documents• Court-Approved Notice of Class Action Settlement (PDF) — class definition, deadlines, release, hearing
• Settlement documents page — settlement agreement and claim form
• Doe v. Wellstar Health System, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-01748 (N.D. Ga.) — before Judge J.P. Boulee
Questions
Do I have to have been a Wellstar patient to qualify?
The class definition does not require it. It covers any person residing in the United States whose information was disclosed to a third party between February 19, 2020 and July 22, 2026 through tracking technologies on Wellstar's website and patient portal. In practice the mailed notice is how most people learn they are in the class, because the administrator works from the records identifying whose information was disclosed.
How much money will I get from the Wellstar settlement?
No fixed per-person amount has been announced. Valid claims share the $4,250,000 fund pro rata after the court-approved deductions for notice and administration costs, attorneys' fees and expenses, and service awards. That means the payment depends on how many valid claims are filed, and it cannot be calculated until the claim period closes.
What do I need to file a Wellstar settlement claim?
The online claim portal asks for the Unique ID printed on the notice mailed to you, along with a PIN. No receipts or medical records are required. Because filing is gated on an administrator-issued identifier, this counts as proof. A paper claim form is also available on the settlement website and can be mailed instead.
What is the deadline to file a Wellstar settlement claim?
Claims must be submitted online or postmarked by November 10, 2026. The deadlines to opt out or object are earlier and are stated inconsistently across official sources: the court-approved long-form notice gives October 26, 2026 for both, while the settlement website's FAQ page gives November 10, 2026. Anyone planning to opt out or object should act by the earlier date, October 26, 2026.
What are tracking pixels and why did they lead to a lawsuit?
A tracking pixel is a small piece of third-party code embedded in a web page that reports back to the company that supplied it, such as Meta or Google, about what a visitor did on the page. Health systems used them for advertising and analytics. Plaintiffs allege that on pages behind a patient portal login, or on pages about specific conditions and providers, what gets reported can reveal information about a person's health, and that sharing it without consent invaded class members' privacy. Wellstar denies the allegations and no court has decided who is right.
What happens to money left over in the Wellstar settlement fund?
Any residual funds remaining in the net settlement fund after cash payments are distributed will be issued to Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb, subject to court approval. That kind of charitable redistribution of leftover settlement money is known as a cy pres award.
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