Gavin Reinke of Alston & Bird writes:
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed its prior conclusion that there is no duty to safeguard personal information under Georgia law. In McConnell v. Ga. Dep’t of Labor, — S.E.2d —-, 2018 WL 2173252 (Ga. App. May 11, 2018), the Court of Appeals addressed whether a plaintiff whose social security number and other personal identifying information (“PII”) had allegedly been negligently disclosed by an employee of the Georgia Department of Labor stated a negligence claim in connection with the unauthorized disclosure.
In urging that the Court of Appeals should recognize such a duty, the plaintiff in McConnellrelied on the Georgia Personal Identity Protection Act (the “GPIPA”). The plaintiff argued that the GPIPA supported recognizing a duty to safeguard PII because the statute reflects the General Assembly’s “intent to protect citizens from the adverse effects of disclosure of personal information and created a general duty to preserve and protect personal information.” McConnell, 2018 WL 2173252.
Read more on Privacy & Data Security Blog.