I asked a lawyer friend of mine about this situation, and those who have had their private information shared have grounds for a lawsuit.
I can’t actually state word for word what he said, mainly because I don’t do lawyer speak well, but as TSR is a business the administration has a requirement to protect sensitive information in regards to the consumers privacy.
It was my understanding that the only way they can release the information that they have been, is if they have been issued a court order. The fact that they released the information in an online forum despite it’s “private status” is really bad, as they cannot guarantee that it will remain private. (heh - obviously, since it has been made public now.) Plus they released the information to an employment staff (the FA’s) who do not have a reason to know said information in order to perform the requirements of their job.
I pointed out that TSR could claim that they have EA’s permission to offer payfiles and he said the lawsuit could then be extended towards EA for failure to insure the privacy of it’s customers, acquired through TSR, as it is their product via the copyright that TSR is selling.
And ya know, somehow I think EA would have a problem with this since they already have a few class action lawsuits going on…
*heads back to lurker mode*
Edit: way to early to spell well
