AN AMERICAN ACTRESS has filed a US$1 million lawsuit against Amazon.com for allowing one of its websites to publish damaging personal information about her.

The website in question is IMDb – the go-to page for facts and figures about just about every working actor and actress, as well as every film and television programme ever made.

The damaging personal information under fire is her age.

She is 40 years old (shock). “In the entertainment industry, youth is king,” her lawyer explained.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the suit reads that “if one is perceived to be ‘over-the-hill’, i.e. approaching 40, it is nearly impossible for an up-and-coming actress, such as the plaintiff, to get work.”

The anonymous actress claims she looks a lot younger than she is, and so she had always been careful about keeping her given name and birthdate confidential. As an unknown, she used an Americanised stage name in 2003 when she first listed herself on IMDb.com, a listing which she said brought her several jobs.

However, since signing up to IMDb Pro – a site for entertainment industry professionals – her age was revealed. She believes that the company unlawfully used her credit card details and personal information from the transaction to update the site.

However, IMDb refused to remove the reference to the woman’s age from her profile when asked, the lawsuit said. The website claims it received the information from the plaintiff’s agent.

The actress is seeking $1 million or more in punitive damages as well as $75,000 or more in compensatory damages. She accuses Amazon and IMDb of breach of contract, fraud, and violation of privacy and consumer protection laws.

The only clues to the plaintiff’s identity are that she is 40 (obviously) and a Texas resident of Asian descent.

-Additional reporting by AP