From Reade v. N.Y. Times Co., decided Friday by Judge William Shubb (E.D. Cal.):
Plaintiff Tara Reade brought this action against defendant The New York Times Company challenging the alleged publication of a photograph containing her Social Security number in defendant's newspaper, The New York Times ….
During the 2020 United States presidential campaign, plaintiff publicly accused then-candidate Joe Biden of having sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, while plaintiff was working at the United States Senate. The Times investigated plaintiff's allegations and, to corroborate them, plaintiff provided the Times with a photograph of her federal identification card from her time with the Senate. That ID card included what turned out to be the upper portion of plaintiff's Social Security number.
The Times published an article about plaintiff's allegations in April of 2020, in which it included the photo of her ID card, though plaintiff had not expressly given the Times consent to publish the photo. The Times removed the photo after roughly nine hours, after plaintiff demanded its removal. Plaintiff alleges that the photo was viewed thousands or millions of times before it was removed and that there have since been hundreds of attempts to steal her identity using her Social Security number….
The court concluded that Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.85—"a person or entity may not … [intentionally communicate or otherwise make available to the general public] in any manner an individual's social security number"—doesn't create a private right of action:
