Layered Fiduciaries in the Information Age

Authors

Zhaoyi Li, University of Pittsburgh School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

Technology companies such as Facebook have long been criticized for abusing customers’ personal information and monetizing user data in a manner contrary to customer expectations. Some commentators suggest fiduciary law could be used to restrict how these companies use their customers’ data. Under this framework, a new member of the fiduciary family called the “information fiduciary” was born. The concept of an information fiduciary is that a company providing network services to “collect, analyze, use, sell, and distribute personal information” owes customers and end-users a fiduciary duty to use the collected data to promote their interests, thereby assuming fiduciary liability if it misuses or misappropriates customer data. Although the possibility of an information fiduciary has generated significant attention, neither questions about the scope of the information fiduciary’s duty of care nor whether corporate law’s fiduciary duties are compatible with the information fiduciary duty, have been satisfactorily answered.

Recommended Citation

Zhaoyi Li, Layered Fiduciaries in the Information Age, 98 Indiana Law Journal (2023).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.pitt.edu/fac_articles/559