Privacy Breaches Are Usually Not Worth Much Money

Toronto Privacy Lawyer Gil Zvulony recently spoke to Canadian Lawyer Magazine regarding the recent decision in McIntosh v. Legal Aid Ontario.  In that case the court awarded the plaintiff $7500 in damages for the tort of intrusion upon seclusion.

Gil Zvulony believes that the result is typical in that relatively minor privacy breaches will not result in a windfall damages award.  Most minor privacy breaches will fall in the realm of small claims court jurisdiction.  At the time of writing, all monetary claims under $25,000 must be brought in the Small Claims Court.  There can be negative consequences if a plaintiff recovers an amount within the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court.  In such a case, the court may order that the plaintiff shall not recover any costs.  Such an outcome can result in a plaintiff paying more in legal fees than in what is actually recovered by way of judgment.   The lesson here is to have a hard look at the amount of damages in privacy breaches before commencing an action.

The article in Canadian Lawyer Magazine can be found here: Legal aid employee to pay $7,500 for intrusion upon seclusion