WASHINGTON: Survivors of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sued the US government and Google over victims' identities being mistakenly revealed in a massive trove of documents published online by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ released more than three million files related to the investigation into the disgraced financier, including his links to high-profile figures. However, federal officials were left scrambling after the names of victims who were supposed to remain anonymized were left unredacted.
According to the plaintiffs, the DOJ "outed approximately 100 survivors of the convicted sexual predator, publishing their private information and identifying them to the world."
The lawsuit further alleges that while the government acknowledged the breach and subsequently withdrew the files, online entities like Google have continuously republished the data and refused victims' pleas to take it down.
The case states that Google continues to display the victims' personal information in its search results and AI-generated content. Additionally, journalists at The New York Times discovered dozens of explicit photographs within the leaked files that exposed people's faces.