Data breaches and the unintentional disclosure of personal information are much in the news. Whether such events give rise to tort liability is an issue being looked at by the Georgia Supreme Court. Georgia Department of Labor v. McConnell, Case Nos. S18G1316 and S18G1317 (decided May 20, 2019), involved an unintentional disclosure by the Georgia Department of Labor of the personal information of applicants for unemployment benefits and other Department services.  A Department employee had sent an email to approximately 1000 recipients that included a spreadsheet containing the personal information, including social security numbers, of over 4500 applicants.  One individual… Read more