libel slander
Sentiment Analysis on Persons, Companies, Things
<p>Are there any laws against applying sentiment analysis on people, places, or things using open source data? How about data only found on my network (proprietary user opinion of other people, places, things). </p>

<p>For example, could a website publish a sentiment score (positive, negative, neutral) of a public servant (say a politician or judge) or private citizen (like myself) or public figure (athlete, actress, etc)?</p>

<p>Does such a sentiment "score" break any liable laws or raise any other issues you can think of?</p>

<p>There is nothing illegal in the United States about publishing survey results about pretty much anything, so long as you truthfully publish what your survey reveals. Also, foreign judgments related to your publications are not enforceable in the U.S. if they don't meet U.S. legal standards.</p>

<p>This is particularly true in the case of sentiment surveys as they are purely matters of opinion that are not capable of being true or false in and of themselves. Defamatory matters must related to false statements of fact in the U.S.</p>
