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Sunday, 16 October 2011 12:14

Written by Ced Kurtz

One of TechMan's favorite hangouts disappeared when Borders closed its bookstores.

You could find anything there, from nerd books on programming with Python to volumes on Mongolian throat singing.

And when you were bored and tired of staying at home, you could have a beverage and just browse.

Borders is gone now, and that's bad. But losing a familiar haunt is not the only thing negative about the situation.

When Borders declared bankruptcy, its assets were put up for auction to pay off creditors.

One of those assets was its customer list and the attendant personal information. Borders had names, email addresses, some credit card information and lists of the books, movies and music customers bought there. It had this information for more than 50 million customers.

Surviving bookstore chain Barnes & Noble was the successful bidder for this information-rich asset at $14 million.

Barnes & Noble argued that it should have immediate and unfettered ownership of this information because it would be protected under B&N's privacy policy.

But the Federal Trade Commission disagreed, expressing its concern that any sale or transfer of Borders' customer information would violate Borders' promise not to disclose such information and could be a deceptive or unfair business practice.

The FTC asserted that Borders customers should give express consent before a transfer of data and that if a customer objects to the transfer, his data should be purged.

After the FTC issued a letter to the court-appointed Consumer Privacy Ombudsman demanding protection for personal customer information and state attorneys general got involved, the judge in the bankruptcy proceeding put the case on hold until an agreement could be worked out.

What was agreed was that consumers whose information was possessed by Borders should be given the chance to forbid that information from becoming the property of Barnes & Noble.

As a result of this agreement, Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch sent an email to Borders patrons whose information was in its possession.

Apparently Mr. Lynch knew TechMan's distress over losing Borders. "First of all, let me say Barnes & Noble uniquely appreciates the importance bookstores play within local communities, and we're very sorry your Borders store closed," he said in his email.

The sorrow is a little hard to believe -- Borders was Barnes & Noble's top competitor.

He said, "If you would like to opt out, we will ensure all your data we receive from Borders is disposed of in a secure and confidential manner."

He said anyone wishing to opt out should visit www.bn.com/borders by Oct. 29.

Why should you care about all this? Maybe you don't. TechMan's not particularly worried that B&N knows he bought that copy of "Mongolian Throat Singing for Dummies." He's not so thrilled that they know about that Barry Manilow CD he once bought late at night.

More worrying is the fact that, in these days of online commerce, often the most valuable asset of a bankrupt company is the information about its customers it has collected.

That personal information is an asset that can be purchased in a bankruptcy proceeding.

In this case, through the efforts of state and federal agencies and the court, you have the right to refuse Barnes & Noble ownership of your personal information.

But do it at www.bn.com/borders by Oct. 29.

•

In other privacy news, Verizon has made changes to its policy that allows it to share information gathered on customers with advertisers.

The carrier will not give away any personal identifying information. But it will collect and sell aggregate data on subscribers' browsing habits, app usage, demographics and geo-locations.

Mobile advertisers rely heavily on mobile data, especially location information, for targeted ads.

Again, you are automatically included unless you opt out. You can opt out by calling 1-866-211-0874. Or you can fill out a form by logging on to your account at www.vzw.com/myprivacy.

Verizon still plans to track customers' mobile habits even if it cannot pass the information to advertisers.

Through bankruptcy and privacy policy changes, our information is being increasingly compromised. And almost always you are included, unless you pay attention and opt out.

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