In what will certainly be a landmark case for the technology world, the United States Supreme Court revealed on April 27 that it will decide whether online services can be sued for publishing inaccurate information about individuals when that information has not done the individual any damage.

The case comes out of a previous case launched by Thomas Robins of Virginia who sued Spokeo Inc , claiming that the company published information about him that injured his job prospects. The Associated Press reports that Robins claimed the company profiled him as employed when he was not, and that the false information damaged his ability to find a job. But a federal district court ruled that Robins had no right to sue because he hadn't suffered any actual damage. After a follow-up ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which reversed that decision — ruling that Spokeo had indeed violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act — the Supreme Court is now taking up the case.

What makes this case of particular interest to the technology world is the fact that Robins' claims coalesce with a principle commonly held by consumer and privacy advocates: that technology companies are not held to tight enough standards when it comes to publishing personal information. In Spokeo maintains that it only collects information that is publicly available — and that is where its crossroads with Robins remains.