Google ordered to deactivate user’s Gmail account by judge
It seems that you can now have your email account deactivated due to someone else’s mistake.
On Aug. 12, the Wilson, Wyo.-based Rocky Mountain Bank accidentally sent the names, addresses, social security numbers and loan information of more than 1,300 customers to a Gmail address. Soon after doing so, they discovered that the address the information was sent to was incorrect, and a follow-up email was sent requesting that the owner of the incorrect address destroy the email without opening it.
The owner of the address did not reply to the bank, and Google was contacted and asked for the identity of the account holder. As is usual with this type of situation, Google denied the request citing privacy concerns, and told the bank that it would need a court order to obtain that information. This did not deter the bank, and it did indeed move on to the courts to request that the email account be shut down.
According to Online Media Daily, U.S. District Court Judge James Ware in the northern district of California ruled in favor of the bank, and a court order was issued for Google to shut down the unknown person’s Gmail account. The court order also instructs Google to turn over the user’s name and contact information to the bank.
The bank did attempt to keep this action private by requesting the order be issued under seal, but that request was denied by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte.
Lawyers have now spoken up in regards to the case saying that this decision has First Amendment ramifications in regards to the right of free speech. It is also questionable how a bank, which were the ones to commit the mistake, could possibly be seen as having the rights to requesting the deactivation of an email account for a totally innocent individual.
Online Media Daily spoke with John Morris, general counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, who said, “It’s outrageous that the bank asked for this, and it’s outrageous that the court granted it. What right does the bank have and go suspend the email account of a completely innocent person?” Mr. Morris went on to add, “At the end of the day, the bank obviously screwed up. But it should not be bringing a lawsuit against two completely innocent parties and disrupting one of the innocent party’s email contact to the world.”
It will be interesting to see if this moves any further in the court system, but it is an unsettling idea at best for now.
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September 26th, 2009
OMG people. Let’s apply a little common sense here rather than flail about like shutting one email address is going to end the world. If the owner of the address assures the bank (and likely now the court) that the PII will nit be disclosed or sold all will be fine. Closing the account is perfectly reasonable action, and if I were Google I would have disabled the account as soon as the bank contacted them. Okay, stupid people at the bank yeah. But the hand wringing about vast encroachments on constitutional rights is just silly.
And come on, gmail is FREE email, and to contend the person is cut off from the world without access to a free eMail account is disingenuous.
September 27th, 2009
David, I cannot believe you’ve taken that stance. This is completely outrageous, and if it were my Email then I’d sue the bank without question.
It’s not just about ’shutting one email address’ down. It’s about the principle of what’s happened.
Firstly a bank should have no more authority over a person’s email address than anyone else, they’re not exempt simple because they’re a bank.
So imagine I were to operate a small business, and I send my clients personal details to your address.
How would you feel if you come back from a vacation, deciding to stay technology free for the trip to give yourself a break, and find your email address has been shut down because I!! made a mistake?
Secondly if they’ve managed to get one email account deactivated (which admittedly wouldn’t end the world, no) why do you think that it can’t happen to others as well?
Seems logical to assume that now the precedent is set and it’s happened once, it could very likely happen again and again!
Another point of contention you’ve raised is about Gmail being free! I apologise if I’ve misinterpreted your meaning (tone and inflections have never really conveyed well over the internet have they :( ) but it sounds like you’re saying that in a derogative manner.
A large majority of (personal) Email accounts are free now, & certainly all the major popular ones are. Tbh I don’t even know of any paid for ones, but I won’t say there are none because I’ve not looked into it.
Regardless, just because someone’s using a free email account doesn’t mean the information stored on it is of less importance. Bank details, online purchases; website account information, collaborative work projects, the list goes on and on.
Normally I wouldn’t write out such a lengthy reply (if any) but I was just so amazed by what you said. Just can’t get my head round your view @ all.
September 27th, 2009
Its the principle. A private institution has persuaded a judge to take away something that belongs to an entirely unconnected and innocent person. It doesn’t matter if the email has been out of use for 3 years, or if the person who uses it has 500 email account.
That is still very bad.
September 27th, 2009
Is this one of the banks, or one associated with one of the banks that was bailed out with taxpayers’ (or should I say Chinese) dollars? Enough already, and no matter, the BANK should be shut down for misuse of sensitive information. Then maybe other banks would guard that information more closely. I hope the guy does sue, although I’m not sure what loss he suffered.
September 29th, 2009
This just blows my mind. I’m sorry, but Rocky Mountain Bank was in the wrong here. Totally in the wrong. They should have reprimanded their employee instead. I would have to question as to WHY did the employee have to email ANYONE a list of sensitive information? Do people NOT know or realize that emailing from one address to another is NOT safe or confidential as we are lead to believe. Emails can be intercepted along the route by hackers and those who use script programs to spy on mail servers and such.
I sincerely hope that Rocky Mountain Bank customers have heard about this story and hope that they close their accounts at Rocky Mountain Bank PRONTO and find another bank to do business at. Rocky Mountain Bank needs to take responsibility of their own f**k up instead of blaming someone else or trying to pretend that a criminal phantom exists when it doesn’t.
Just who the hell does Rocky Mountain Bank think they are to take away someone’s right to have an email account? Corporations like them seriously disgust me. I hope that whoever the person is that had their email account taken away, I hope that person sues the living sh** out of Rocky Mountain Bank AND Google.