Betrayal or 'Christmas in September'? Dueling experts assess Ashley Madison hack.

Two experts weigh in on the Ashley Madison leak

(Image credit: AP/YouTube)

The spilling of personal information on millions of presumed cheating husbands who used the extramarital-hookup service Ashely Madison is a gift for our prurient schadenfreude. But as Khaliah Barnes at the Electronic Privacy Information Center soberly reminds us in the video below, it is also a massive invasion of privacy. No matter what you think of Ashely Madison, she tells The Associated Press, "consumers should not be cheated out of their privacy," and companies should not hold on to more customer data than they can reasonably protect.

Steve Mindel, a divorce lawyer and expert on family law, has a different takeaway. "Among colleagues in the family law department, we're all saying it's going to be Christmas in September," he said, "because pretty soon, all this stuff's going to surface and there's going to be a lot of filings for divorce directly as a result of this." Other than making you feel better about your own interest in the hack, Mindel raises the interesting question of whether (and where) Ashley Madison can be held liable for stealing husbands away from wives. Watch the two reactions to the leak below. Peter Weber

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.