CNET: Privacy advocates protest Northwest dismissal

A decision to dismiss class action suits against Northwest Airlines - accused of violating its own privacy policy - means that many online privacy policies may prove unenforceable without further legislation. The judge noted that privacy law tends to be interpreted based on the average person's expectations of privacy, and it appeared that few if any of the plaintiffs had ever even read Northwest's policy.

The policy is not, by itself, a contract that has behind it the force of civil law. The decision also brings up a continuing thorn in the side of commerce between large companies and their many customers: the fine print terms - often called contracts of adhesion in legal circles. Courts have often made rulings against companies, in favor of individuals, who claimed not to have read or understood these terms. The strange way the U.S. courts interpret privacy rights allowed this to become a surprising defense.

Privacy groups were quick to criticize the decision. But the Northwest case does not afford much protection to the airline. It seems to leave open the possibility of additional lawsuits by those who do claim to have read the policy. It also leaves open the possibility that, with so many companies now publishing suitably restrictive privacy policies, a plaintiff could reasonably argue that the general expectation of privacy is indeed over the level that Northwest violated.