Legal Question in Technology Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Cell phone company gave away text messages

Your girlfreind may have a claim against the ex-boyfreind and the service provider for accessing and providing the information. I do not believe you have a claim against either because there was a lack of privity. In other words, you did not have a relationship with the provider that released the information. The information was held by the provider on the girlfreind's account.

I also question whether that is actually true. To my knowledge most providers do not keep records of text messages. I may be wrong, but text messages and instant messages have been treated as simple pass through information and not the type of information that could or would be kept by a provider. Though I do know that a provider will keep a record of the characteristics of the data (time, date, size, destination, origin) but I don't think they keep the actual text. Please tell me if I am wrong (and show me the source).

As to prosecuting such claims. There may be both civil and criminals claims which can be prosecuted. Any criminal claims would be dealt with through the state's attorney. A civil (tort) claim could be brought but this claim would need to be financed in large part by the claimant.

When a party's rights are violated in tort law they have a claim against the breaching party. Bringing a claim costs money and time. In some cases an attorney can take a risk with his own money and time and essentially finance a case that a party could otherwise not bring because of lack of funds. If the case wins then the attorney takes the agreed percentage of the judgment. If the case loses, the attorney may lose his entire investment of time and money and the plaintiff will owe nothing. Often there is a middle ground where the plaintiff pays costs or even a retainer and the attorney takes the remainder of the case on contingency (risk).

In this case, while I think the girlfreind may have claims, I believe you would need to provide substantial funds in order to fund the case. This demonstrates a few things. First, that the attorney has a client and the client has a lawyer. Also, that the client is invested in the case. Every attorney can tell stories about great claims where the plaintiff just lost interest and stopped participating to the detriment of the case.

Hope this helps you make a decision.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]