미국 연방대법원의 프라이버시보호법 위반과 연방정부배상책임관련 판결례

Abstract

The Privacy Act of 1974 includes a private right of action that allows citizens to sue the federal government if an agency makes an unauthorized disclosure that has an “adverse effect” on the individual. Stanmore Cawthon Cooper(a licensed pilot since 1964) was diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 1985. Cooper did not inform the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because at the time of his diagnosis the FAA would not allow pilots with HIV to keep flying. Cooper withheld that information from his renewal certifications to keep his pilot's license during renewal periods. Cooper's concealment of his health condition was revealed by the cooperative sharing of Cooper's personal data among federal agencies and was indicted on three counts of making a false statement to a government agency. Cooper was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $1,000. Cooper filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court against the Federal Government for “willful or intentional” violations of the 1974 Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and that such violation caused him “to suffer humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish, fear of social ostracism, and other severe emotional distress” in 2007. The Supreme Court held that “waiver of sovereign immunity must be ‘unequivocally expressed’ in the statutory text” and “Congress need not state its intent in any particular way. We have never required that Congress use magic words.” The Supreme Court held that the Privacy Act does not unequivocally authorize an award of damages for mental or emotional distress. Accordingly, the Privacy Act does not waive the Federal Government's sovereign immunity from the liability in FAA v. Cooper (2012) 132 S. Ct. 1441 (2012). . Many people argued that the U. S. Supreme Court’s ruling restricted Privacy Act remedies and rendered the Privacy Act toothless. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling at least provides Korean jurists with some reference about government's liabilities when public employee's mistreated personal information during the exercise of his or her duties, however.