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Companies Settle Student Data Case
shaunj writes "An article on ABC News is reporting that several companies who were accused of privacy violations from selling personal information of over 2 million high school students to credit card companies and marketers. Aparently the privacy policy stated that the information would only be shared with colleges and other academic institutions. The two companies may be find as much as $11,000 for each violation. Many other articles mentioned on Google News."
Do they really plan on collecting $22,000,000,000 ?
While being forced to pay a monitary sum is often a harsh punishment, I frankly am tired of seeing it applied to compaines.
It would be much more productive, and effective, I think to force compaines to do public service work as part of their reperations. (Much like many indivudals are forced to do comunity service work.)
In this particular case, for instance, they would make reperations to the students by prehaps getting their names off all credit and other "junk" lists, further they'd be required to do a form of "comerical" community service such as being made to work towards protecting consumer privacy.
In situations like this, monatary fines don't really seem to make a dent in the problem. When certian rights, like privacy are violated by a company it should be made not just to pay, but to help foster a protection of those rights.
Course, that's just my thoughts. Not that I'd expect to see such a thing happen all that often. (If ever)