The
White House is siding against Spokeo in a high-profile dispute about whether consumers can sue the online data aggregator for allegedly displaying inaccurate information on its site.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed late last week, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli asks the
Supreme Court to refuse to hear Spokeo's appeal of a ruling that allows Virginia resident Thomas Robins to proceed with his potential class-action lawsuit.
The long-running legal battle dates
to 2010, when Robins alleged that Spokeo violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires credit reporting agencies to take steps to ensure the accuracy of background reports used for
employment, housing and credit. That law also allows consumers to challenge information in those reports.
Spokeo allegedly disclosed inaccurate biographical information about Robins --
including that he was in his 50s, married with children, and employed in a professional or technical field. Robins, who was unemployed when he filed suit, said that he worried that the errors in the
report would affect his job search.
The Web company convinced U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright II in the Central District of California to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that Robins
didn't couldn't point to any tangible injury caused by Spokeo's information.
Robins then appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which revived the case. That court said that the federal
Fair Credit Reporting Act provides for private lawsuits by consumers.
Last year, Spokeo asked the Supreme Court to reverse that decision and rule that Robins isn't entitled to sue unless he
can first show tangible financial harm.
Google, Yahoo, eBay and Facebook agreed with Spokeo, arguing in a friend-of-the-court brief that “no-injury” lawsuits are hurting their
businesses.
For his part, Robins disputes that his case should be considered “no-injury.” He says he “has alleged concrete and particularized injuries -- economic,
reputational, and emotional injuries caused by the publication of false information about him.”
Last October, the Supreme Court invited the Obama administration to weigh in.
The
White House says in its brief that Robins' lawsuit should proceed, in part because Congress specifically authorized private individuals to sue for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The DOJ adds that the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires credit reporting agencies to “follow reasonable procedures to ensure that an accurate report about a consumer is
disseminated.”
Their failure to do so results in “a concrete and particularized injury to the consumer because it involves the actual, specific, and non-abstract act of
disseminating information about the particular consumer,” the White House argues.
In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission alleged that Spokeo violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by
selling data about consumers without taking steps to make sure it was accurate. Spokeo agreed to settle the charges by paying $800,000 and revising some of its practices.