A landmark ruling gives new power to sue tech giants for privacy harms

A unanimous ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court says that companies that improperly gather people’s data can be sued for damages even without proof of concrete injuries, opening the door to legal challenges that Facebook, Google, and other businesses have resisted. While other states only allow attorneys general to sue companies, the Illinois law gives individuals the right to sue companies and collect damages of $1,000 (or $5,000, if the court finds a company deliberately or recklessly flouted the law). After the case bounced around the Illinois courts, on Friday the state’s Supreme Court ruled that Six Flags had violated the law and would need to pay the boy damages, even though there was no “harm” shown.

Source: www.fastcompany.com