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The latest Supreme Court rejection could affect quite a few people hoping to keep the information about them complete and accurate.

Thomas Robins alleged that his profile on the people-directory website Spokeo included false information, including that he was wealthy with a graduate degree, and  has a wife and children. Too bad for Robins — and perhaps anyone else out there with false information about them — the court rejected the case, saying that he didn’t prove any actual damages, former Attorney General Rob McKenna told ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio’s Dave Ross.

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Robins needed to prove actual harm instead of pointing out that there was a technical violation of a statute.

“The purpose of the courts is to come and complain about the harm you’ve suffered, not for citizens to come and enforce federal statutes where they haven’t been harmed,” McKenna explained.

That goes for other things, such as credit companies or a Wikipedia page. People may be able to tell them to fix false information, but they have to prove actual damage to sue.

There’s a question about whether websites such as Spokeo have a certain responsibility to fix inaccurate information, McKenna said. The sites do have protection under a law called the Communications Decency Act, protecting them from having certain liabilities.

The real harm comes from people stealing information, not from false information, McKenna said.

Now, Robins will have to make his case before the U.S. Court of Appeals.