An anonymous actress has sued Amazon, claiming that the company's Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com) published her age without her consent.
The anonymous Texan actress, alleges that most people consider it common knowledge that the older the actress, the less likely she will be able to become a breakout star. She said she signed up for a paid version of the listing website, called IMDb Pro, in 2008. After signing up for the service, her listing on the site allegedly was updated with her true age -- which, she says, is “many years older than she looks.”
She claims that she keeps her age strictly confidential, and that IMDb.com could only have discovered her real age by using her credit card information to scour public records for data about her.
Now she argues that it's been hard for her to find jobs and wants $1 million in punitive damages, as well as $75,000 in compensatory damages. She's filed claims of invasion of privacy, breach of contract and fraud, according to the AP.
There's a subset of invasion of privacy called "public disclosure of private facts" that the actress' claim could fall under. Individuals can sue if there has been a public disclosure of truthful information that is not of public concern. Whether "age" falls under this category is up to a court to decide - and perhaps to determine if IMDb is now responsible.