Maybe there was a time limit on confidentiality?
I used to work for the SSA and they drilled into us the penalties for violating privacy laws, and that is how it should be!
“Tim Adams” is doing something similar to what the 9 employees of the firm in Iowa are being prosecuted for doing. The 9 were “peeking” at Obama’s records and were caught because their computer access events had an audit trail.
We don't know how Mr. Adams came into possession of knowledge of his claim that Obama does not have a long form, or whether the claim is credible so the nature of his potential liability is unclear at this point.