PositiveSingles STD dating website fined $16.5 million in privacy case
The operator of a dating site for people with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) faces paying out $16.5 million (£10.4 million) after losing a privacy case.
The lawsuit alleged a number of users were misled about their privacy rights on PositiveSingles.com, which advertised itself as a confidential service connecting single adults with STDs.
The owner of PositiveSingles was accused of sharing photos and profile details from its site with other dating services, despite promising a "confidential" service.
A jury found the Californian firm had broken local consumer laws.It also decided the business was guilty of fraud, malice and oppression.
'Plaintiff is... not black, gay, Christian or HIV positive and was unaware that defendant was creating websites that focused on such traits that would include his profile, thus indicating that he was all of these things and more,' his lawyers said.
The case dates back to 2011 when the unnamed claimant sued SuccessfulMatch for sharing his information with other sites like AIDSDate, Herpesinmouth, ChristianSafeHaven, MeetBlackPOZ and Positively Kinky.
The jury agreed that SuccessfulMatch had made misleading statements and ordered it pay $1.5m in compensatory damages and another $15m in punitive damages.
Court papers state, however, that the PositiveSingles site advertised itself as a "100% confidential and comfortable community" and stated: "We do not disclose, sell or rent any personally identifiable information to any third-party organizations."
