Interesting Privacy Decision in New Hampshire

TCPALaw writes "A huge decision in privacy law was handed down today by the NH Supreme Court in the Amy Boyer case. Amy was stalked and killed by a man who got her personal information, including SSN, from an on-line information broker. Privacy groups such as EPIC have argued that access to sensitive personal information should carry with it liability for misuse, and can constitute a tort. The NH Supreme Court agreed. Now perhaps you can sue the spyware companies."

Comments

Yellow Pages

[msheppard]

In other news, the phone company is being sued becuase they list a person's address next to their name.

M@

Re:Yellow Pages

[Anonymous Coward]

I think I might have the NSA's copy then... oops.

No wonder the yellow pages were in a red binder.

Re:If only someone could die of SPAM

[jclendenan]

Just wait till they make Pacemakers that work with an integrated TCP/IP stack. Someone could die from a DOS attack. (Having one my self I don't relish the idea of embedded computers regulating critical functions of the human body) .. OT yes I know.

Sue them all ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Now perhaps you can sue the spyware companies.

After someone killed me ?

Good timing

[lastberserker]

Hear me, hear me! This is a good time to pull
this case - all one need is to connect spyware
with terrorism, sit back and enjoy the show.

For starters, terrorists can buy a variety of
information from spyware crooks, such as one
needed to create impostor or fake identities
of government or even (horror, horror!) military
personnel.

How about this?

Re:If only someone could die of SPAM

[dr_dank]

Man crushed by immense penis. Film at eleven.

Name ideas

[stripmarkup]

I bet tomorrow the phone directory will contain a lot more people named Fook Yu...
Other suggestions, courtesy of Bart Simpson.

Ok, I smell the money

[iamacat]

Seeing how everyone is getting rich selling private information, I am putting MY private information on sale right here on slashdot. YES, IT'S 100% LEGAL. You will get a signed, limited edition booklet with my address, phone number, SSN, credit card numbers AND the illustrated history of both my and my cat's love life with an invitation to add a new episode to either one. 10 booklets will be sold to the highest bidders, so take advantage of this unique opportunity and RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY.

Re:It seems only prudent. . .

[Master of Transhuman]

Actually, since I'm planning to start up as an "information broker" I should clarify this misconception.

Information brokers do not sell people's SSN's. Those are sleazy operations that are more akin to private investigators (sleazy ones) than IB's.

An IB is more like a freelance librarian - you call them up and ask them how many widgets were sold in Thailand over the last five years and they do the research and find out for you.

Sometimes they do competitive intelligence research which is a little closer to what the sleazy operations do, but still legal.

There is a national organization for IB's called
Association of Independent Information Professionals with a web site here
which has the following Code of Ethics:

An Information Professional bears the following responsibilities:

Uphold the profession's reputation for honesty, competence, and confidentiality.

Give clients the most current and accurate information possible within the budget and time frames provided by the clients.

Help clients understand the sources of information used and the degree of reliability which can be expected from those sources.

Accept only those projects which are legal and are not detrimental to our profession.

Respect client confidentiality.

Recognize intellectual property rights. Respect licensing agreements and other contracts. Explain to clients what their obligations might be with regard to intellectual property rights and licensing agreements.

Maintain a professional relationship with libraries and comply with all their rules of access.

Assume responsibility for employees' compliance with this code.

I have a little problem with the "recognize IP rights" bit, but generally a legit IB ain't gonna sell you somebody's sister's SSN and address.