Aspen Dental reaches $18.7M settlement in data tracking case

Aspen Dental agreed to settle the class action lawsuit, Donnelly et al. vs. Aspen Dental Management, on July 29 for $18.7 million. The lawsuit alleges that the dental service organization violated privacy laws by using tracking technology to illegally collect sensitive patient information from its website and sharing that information with third parties. 

Patients of Aspen Dental whose information was potentially shared without their knowledge have until September 15, 2025, to stake their claim in the settlement. A hearing is set for October 20, 2025, to determine whether the settlement will receive final court approval. 

Donnelly vs. Aspen alleges Aspen Dental, which has approximately 1,100 offices in the US, was disclosing information to third parties including Meta (Facebook) and Google by using Meta Pixel and other tracking technologies. The suit was filed on February 20, 2025, and received preliminary approval from the court on June 17, 2025. 

Aspen Dental denies any wrongdoing. No court or other judicial body has made any judgment or other determination that the company has done anything wrong. 

There are two groups of settlement class members representing more than two million people. Group 1 members booked an appointment on the website between February 20, 2022, and June 1, 2023, and Group 2 members booked an appointment on the website between June 2, 2023, and January 1, 2025. This article from Dapeer Law explains who’s eligible and what steps people can take to claim their share of the settlement. Those with more questions can call (844) 496-0570.

According to The HIPAA Journal, there are approximately 621,370 individuals in Group 1 and 1,625,000 individuals in Group 2. Aspen Dental will establish a fund of $2,796,169.50 for Group 1 and a fund of $15,673,220 for Group 2.¹

Not Aspen Dental’s first settlement

This isn’t the first time that Aspen Dental has been involved in a lawsuit. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office announced a $3.5 million settlement with Aspen Dental Management in January 2023 resolving claims that the dental chain cheated thousands of Massachusetts consumers through a series of bait-and-switch advertising campaigns.² 

The lawsuit alleged that Aspen Dental violated the state Consumer Protection Law and the assurances Aspen Dental made to the AG’s Office in a 2014 settlement addressing similar conduct. According to the AG’s lawsuit, Aspen Dental engaged in numerous deceptive advertising and marketing practices, including charging patients for services it advertised as “free,” as well as advertising that it worked with “all” insurance when it did not accept MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program that includes dental coverage.² 

Like the current settlement, Aspen denied any wrongdoing and settled the lawsuit.

References

1. Alder S. Healthcare organizations settle website tracking class action lawsuits. July 31, 2025. https://www.hipaajournal.com/healthcare-organizations-settle-website-tracking-class-action-lawsuits/

2. Attorney General’s office reaches $3.5 million settlement with Aspen Dental over claims of deceptive advertising. January 3, 2023. https://www.mass.gov/news/attorney-generals-office-reaches-35-million-settlement-with-aspen-dental-over-claims-of-deceptive-advertising