{"id":58776,"date":"2018-02-14T05:15:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T05:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58776"},"modified":"2018-02-14T05:15:04","modified_gmt":"2018-02-14T05:15:04","slug":"how-much-is-your-privacy-worth-a-lot-if-youve-won-560-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/how-much-is-your-privacy-worth-a-lot-if-youve-won-560-million.html","title":{"rendered":"How Much Is Your Privacy Worth? A Lot, if You’ve Won $560 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Much Is Your Privacy Worth? A Lot, if You\u2019ve Won $560 Million<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The winner of a $560 million Powerball jackpot has yet to claim her prize, but her lawyers say she is already being preyed upon and is highly stressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the winner, known in court papers only as Jane Doe, said last month that she wanted to remain anonymous, New Hampshire officials said they could not give her the money \u2014 the seventh largest jackpot in United States history \u2014 unless her name was made public.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since then, her lawyers have been deluged with offers from around the world of ideas for how she might get the money and still keep her privacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dozens of people offered to legally change their names to match Ms. Doe\u2019s in order to collect the money for her \u2014 for fees of $1 million or more.<\/span><\/p>\n

A homeless mother of five in North Carolina offered to turn in Ms. Doe\u2019s winning ticket in exchange for a six-bedroom house, a used car and a small trust for each of her children.<\/span><\/p>\n

The outpouring of appeals, outlined by Ms. Doe\u2019s lawyers in legal papers, underscored the point they tried to make on Tuesday in a courtroom in Nashua \u2014 that sudden wealth exposes an unsuspecting citizen to vultures, swindlers and other parasites who harass the winner in an attempt to leech off some of the money for themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawyers said they want to keep their client\u2019s real name private to protect her from what they described as \u201cviolence, threats, harassment, scams and constant unwanted solicitation\u201d that have befallen previous lottery winners.<\/span><\/p>\n

But New Hampshire\u2019s lottery commission takes a very different stance, arguing that the state has an overriding interest in disclosing the names of lottery winners \u2014 not to satisfy the curiosity of neighbors or promote sales of lottery tickets, but as a hedge against corruption.<\/span><\/p>\n

The commission oversees hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues and prizes a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen somebody wins a public lottery of $560 million, there is a public interest in knowing who the winner was, and that it is a fair and equitable process,\u201d John J. Conforti, an assistant attorney general representing the lottery commission, told the court.<\/span><\/p>\n

The state gave little credence to the argument that identifying Ms. Doe would jeopardize her safety, saying that any risk could be managed by engaging a security detail. Ms. Doe\u2019s lawyers said they were already lining up bodyguards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most states view the names of winners of significant prizes as a matter of public record, though a few permit winners to keep their identities private. Some states, including New Hampshire, allow trusts and not just individuals to claim winnings.<\/span><\/p>\n

For almost two hours Tuesday, Judge Charles Temple of the Hillsborough County Superior Court heard arguments in the case, which has made headlines around the world for the eye-popping size of the prize and for an \u201cif only\u201d twist in Ms. Doe\u2019s plight.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Ms. Doe realized she had the winning ticket, she followed the instructions on the ticket and on the lottery commission\u2019s website to \u201csign the ticket.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If only she had talked to a lawyer first, she might have avoided the entire issue. She could have set up a trust that would sign the ticket, claim the prize and be the public face of the winner, rather than Ms. Doe personally. But lottery officials say the chance to do that ended when she signed her name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Doe\u2019s lawyers \u2014 Steven M. Gordon and Billy Shaheen, high-powered attorneys in the state \u2014 said the ticket and state\u2019s website were misleading because they did not explain that by signing a ticket, winners give up their anonymity. Nowhere, they said, does the website advise the winner \u201cthat there is an option for a trust to claim a prize.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lottery officials said they urge winners to sign the ticket as a safeguard in case it is lost or stolen, and that the lottery could not dispense legal advice.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact that New Hampshire already allows trusts to sign the tickets, effectively allowing a winner to remain anonymous, undermines the state\u2019s argument that a winner\u2019s identity must be publicly disclosed to protect the integrity of the process, Mr. Gordon said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before going to court, Ms. Doe\u2019s lawyers talked with the lottery commission to try to resolve the matter. Ms. Doe\u2019s lawyers suggested that she be allowed to \u201cwhite-out\u201d her signature in front of the commission \u2014 a procedure used at least once, in Ohio \u2014 and then have a trust sign it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The commission rejected that idea, saying removing her name would alter the ticket, which is against the lottery rules, and thus render it void.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Doe\u2019s lawyers also suggested that the original winning ticket could be photocopied and put under seal, while her signature on the photocopy could be covered up and replaced with the name of the trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not clear when the court might rule in the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

For each day that passes, Ms. Doe is forgoing about $14,000 in interest on the unclaimed winnings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two sides indicated that they were close to agreeing that while the judge mulls his decision about whether to make Ms. Doe\u2019s name public, the money could be transferred to her.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that will take at least a few days. Charles R. McIntyre, executive director of the state lottery, who called the winning ticket \u201cthe most valuable piece of paper on the planet, more valuable than a Rembrandt,\u201d said it would take some time \u201cto get that much cash in the state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not known whether Ms. Doe has shared news of her jackpot with anyone besides her lawyers.<\/span><\/p>\n

After court, Mr. Shaheen, one of her lawyers, told reporters that his advice to her was simple: \u201cIf you like your family and you like your friends and you like your relatives, don\u2019t tell anybody.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/13\/us\/lottery-powerball-name-privacy.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront<\/span><\/p>\n

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