Fox Rothschild partner Scott L. Vernick was quoted in The New York Times article, “Hacking Victims Deserve Empathy, Not Ridicule.” Full text can be found in the September 2, 2015, issue, but a synopsis is below.
While some data breach victims may face only minor frustrations – changing a password or getting a new credit card – it is a different story for the more than 30 million Ashley Madison users who had their accounts for the infidelity website compromised.
Many of the victims of this latest massive data breach have been plunged into despair, fearing they could lose jobs and families, and expecting to be humiliated among friends and colleagues.
“It’s easy to be snarky about Ashley Madison, but just because it’s unpopular or even immoral, it doesn’t mean this sort of activity shouldn’t be protected,” said Scott L. Vernick, a noted privacy attorney. “This gets at fundamental issues like freedom of speech and freedom of association – today it’s Ashley Madison, tomorrow it could be some other group that deserves protection.”