Why $500,000 May Become the New Minimum Measure of Damages for Invasion of Privacy Claims

Based on recent developments in the law, advocates may now consider a minimum of $500,000 per violation plus reasonable attorneys fees to be an objective measure of damages for invasions of privacy and related claims.

The new law applies to United States Senators whose phone records (referred to as “Senate data”) were reviewed during the Special Counsel’s investigation into January 6, 2020.

The minimum of $500,000 per violation plus attorneys fees appears to be triggered by the government’s mere review the Senators’ phone records, and is not dependent on any publication of those records. The harm is presumably just knowing that your records were reviewed in violation of the statute, without any publication. This is in contrast to false credit reporting or collection lawsuits against victims of identify theft, which are published to third parties and often result in denials of credit or employment, and housing. Such claims are presumably more harmful, and thus arguably worth more in damages, than access to one’s phone records without any publication.

Hopefully this new $500,000 minimum will provide a touchstone to help streamline resolution of invasion of privacy and similar claims.

Here is the relevant portion of the law:

(2) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any Senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency.

“(3) RELIEF.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—If a Senator prevails on a claim under this subsection, the court shall award— “

(i) for each instance of a violation of this section, the greater of statutory damages of $500,000 or the amount of actual damages; “(ii) reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of litigation;

CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS, AGRICULTURE, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND EXTENSIONS ACT, 2026, PL 119-37, November 12, 2025, 139 Stat 495