CompuServe accused of privacy breach

Internet service provider (ISP), CompuServe, and parent company, AOL are facing court action from a US abortion clinic for endangering the privacy of its patients.

Through the CompuServe service, anti-abortion activists were able to access a database of motor vehicle licences from which they gained personal details such as home telephone numbers and addresses. This information was then used to harass the clinic's patients.

CompuServe offers access to a variety of databases as a premium service, but the clinic claims the ISP was careless about who it allowed to use that service. CompuServe said it cannot be held responsible for what people do with that information, although it has now stopped providing that service. Also being taken to court is TML Information Services, which provides online access to motor vehicle records in the US.

Mike Usher of Indicci Salus consultancy said in the UK, the Data Protection Act is clear about where responsibility lies. "Breaches of personal privacy would come down to who originates the data. The question in this case would fall on the original database user - TML. CompuServe would not be seen as a user," he said.

He added that CompuServe finds itself in a legal grey area over what responsibility an ISP should have over the content provided on its service. Last May, the head of CompuServe Germany, Felix Somm lost a similar court case concerning pornographic material being accessible through its Internet service.

However, Usher pointed out: "If CompuServe had to vet every potential premium user, bearing in mind it has millions of global users, the cost and effort would prohibit the service altogether. So the only way it can avoid such situations is to stop making the information available," he said.