Newspaper's Publishing Of Plaintiff's Social Security Number Did Not Violate His Privacy Or Civil Rights

An interesting little case from the Fourth Department last week should give all pause to consider the power of the press to publish almost any personal information -  Valeriano v Rome Sentinel Co., 2007 NY Slip Op 07163.

In that case, the plaintiff was involved in an illegal sports gambling operation. In publishing a story about the operation, the defendant's daily newspaper published the plaintiff's name, address, date of birth, and his Social Security number along with information concerning 12 other individuals involved. The plaintiff brought an action asserting causes of action under Civil Rights Law § 50 and for negligence. The Supreme Court found that the complaint failed to state a cause of action and the Fourth Department agreed.

Civil Rights Law § 50 provides:

A person, firm or corporation that uses for advertising purposes, or for the purposes of trade, the  name, portrait or picture of any living person without having first obtained the written consent of such person, or if a minor of his or her parent  or guardian, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

The Fourth Department stated that the newspaper article did not violate § 50 because the information was published by the defendant in a "newsworthy article" and was not used for advertising or trade purposes. In addition, the Court stated that the complaint did not state a valid cause of action for negligence because the defendant was not a government or private entity with a statutory, contractual or fiduciary duty to protect the confidentiality of plaintiff's personal information. Thus, the plaintiff's "negligence" cause of action was in reality the functional equivalent of a common-law privacy tort, which the Court stated New York did not recognize.

I personally don't see what is newsworthy about an individual's Social Security number, but the state of the law does seem to allow for its publication. Is there a need for some statutory protection from publishing one's Social Security number? 

Comments

[Jared]

Social Security numbers shouldn't be published. If it takes a statute, so be it.