Illinois court holds that your Social Security Number is not private information

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Gary Fresen <gfresen () ais net>
Date: September 4, 2004 9:50:05 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Privacy - Illinois court holds that your Social Security 
Number is not private information

Dear Dave,

An Illinois Appellate court held that a sharing a social security
number is not an invasion of privacy. Busse v. Motorola, Inc., 2004
Ill. App. LEXIS 738 (1st Dist. June 22, 2004)

Here is the LEXIS summary of the case. I attach the complete case.

 CASE SUMMARY

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant cell phone users sued appellee cell
phone service providers in the Circuit Court of Cook County
(Illinois), for invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion and
breach of contract. The trial court granted the service providers'
motion for summary judgment. The cell phone users appealed.

OVERVIEW: The service providers retrieved data from their customer
records, including names, addresses, and social security numbers, and
transferred the information as a database to a private research firm
for its studies on cell phone safety. The research firm placed the
customer information in a database, compared it to public death
records, and compared cell phone use with mortality and specific
causes of death. In a patterns-of-use survey, the research firm mailed
a questionnaire to the cell phone users. Results of both studies were
published, but cell phone users were not identified. On appeal, the
court found that the service providers were entitled to judgment on
the breach of contract claim under the uses permitted in the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C.S. § 222. Further, there was
no cause of action for invasion of privacy. None of the personal
information furnished - names, telephone numbers, addresses, or social
security numbers - were held to have been private facts. Therefore,
the cell phone users failed to establish the information obtained was
private. Nor were the individual pieces of information facially
revealing, compromising, or embarrassing.

OUTCOME: The judgment was affirmed.

Regards, Gary

--
Gary W. Fresen
email: gfresen () ais net

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Attachment: social_security_and_privacy.doc
Description: