Damage from data snooping hard to prove
By Randy Furst, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"They could be doing this at home," said Mallak, a former public defender. "How creepy is that? I don't want to sound like a teenager but it grosses me out."
In what local lawyers consider a breakthrough decision, U.S. District Judge
Judges
The data includes age, height, weight, address and a photo.
"This is nothing more than stalking,"
The outcome in these cases affects everyone, because public dollars are at stake, with payouts coming from government-funded insurance trusts.
It looked easy at first.
Under state data practices laws, one can obtain a list of the agencies that accessed the license data from the state
The two heavyweight insurance trusts from the
Nor, they say, have the claims shown the individuals have been harmed. The information that officers retrieve is so basic that it does not constitute a constitutional violation or an invasion of privacy, they said.
One factor is that data disclosed by the state DPS list the number of lookups and the agencies, but not the reasons or the officers involved.
"I am surprised the judges are finding no cause of action," said
Suit 'does change the game'
While Frank concurred with rulings by Ericksen and Doty, saying he could not find constitutional or privacy violations, he said there were other claims in Mallak's suit not included in earlier suits. Among the claims: Officers looked up Mallak's data by her name rather than license plate number and her data was accessed about 3 and
"It does change the game in terms of the court recognizing that these are plausible claims under the federal statute and discovery is appropriate," said
When authorities acknowledge misconduct, it can change the legal dynamic.
A class-action suit continues against
'Stakes are fairly large'
Sapientia attorney
As the court cases continue, public employees are learning when lookups are off-limits.
The state, city and county leagues' insurance trusts offer an online training program on the proper way to search driver's license information, said
So far, 3,553 employees have taken the course.
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