That's pretty interesting. In the US the civil legal system is much less accessible to anyone without disposable income and disposal time. There's small claims court which in my area only costs $15 to file, but that is highly limited in the types of cases you can bring before it.
IANAL, but it appears that the type of case I'd have to bring against a company that was inappropriately handling my personal information would require over $400 just to file the papers for the lawsuit. And the fact that I can't easily determine if that's the type of legal action I'd need to bring demonstrates the opacity if the legal system that further prevents access by an individual without spending even more money on a lawyer for the help needed to make that determination.
There are ways I could get inexpensive legal advice, but that's where disposable time comes in. I have too much income to get free legal aid for the lawsuit itself, and honestly there are people with much more serious legal problems that need those limited resources. Unless you can catch the attention of a class action lawyer that sees potential for massive $$ damages it is very difficult for the average person to take advantage of the legal system to protect their rights.
IANAL, but it appears that the type of case I'd have to bring against a company that was inappropriately handling my personal information would require over $400 just to file the papers for the lawsuit. And the fact that I can't easily determine if that's the type of legal action I'd need to bring demonstrates the opacity if the legal system that further prevents access by an individual without spending even more money on a lawyer for the help needed to make that determination.
There are ways I could get inexpensive legal advice, but that's where disposable time comes in. I have too much income to get free legal aid for the lawsuit itself, and honestly there are people with much more serious legal problems that need those limited resources. Unless you can catch the attention of a class action lawyer that sees potential for massive $$ damages it is very difficult for the average person to take advantage of the legal system to protect their rights.