In the suit filed Aug. 17 in a federal court in Manhattan, Rob Barring alleges that Boston-based Pharmatrak is violating the Electronics Communications Privacy Act with the use of cookies to monitor Web usage.
Cookies are small bits of information that can be placed onto the hard drive of a Web site visitor.
They often are used to track a user's Web surfing habits. In Pharmatrak's case, Barring alleges that the company is using cookies to develop user profiles of visitors to pharmaceutical companies' Web sites. Pharmatrak works with 11 pharmaceutical companies, such as SmithKline Beecham, Glaxo Wellcome, and Pfizer. Pharmatrak could not be reached for comment. A similar suit also was filed last week against Pharmatrak in Boston.