If you don’t want your personal information transferred from Borders to Barnes & Noble, you need to act fast. The deadline to opt out is October 15th.
While the Federal Trade Commission is not telling consumers what to do, it did link to a letter written to the Consumer Privacy Ombudsman it wrote in September. The FTC said a review of Borders privacy policies revealed that the bookstore “clearly and expressly represented that customer information would not be rented or sold to third parties except in limited circumstances and then only with the express consent of its customers.”
In 2008, the policy changed and included langauge that suggested customer information may be transferred if the company was sold or transferred. “We view this provision as applying to business transactions that would allow Borders to continue operating as a going concern and not to the dissolution of the company and piecemeal sale of assets in bankruptcy. Even if the provision were to apply in the event of a sale or divestiture of assets through bankruptcy, Borders represented that it would ‘seek appropriate protection’ for such information,” the FTC wrote in its letter.
The FTC sued another company and settled with them over similar transfers of private information. The FTC said it would sue again if the following conditions were not met: Borders did not sell customer information as a standalone asset, the business getting the information is in the same line of business as Borders, the buyer follows Borders privacy policy, and that the buyer gets affirmative consent from consumers.
In the letter, the FTC says that the Borders customer information dates back to 2005.
Opting out
Barnes & Noble made it clear in its email to customers that it has products it thinks will be of interest to the customer that it’s seeking consent to obtain their information. When you try to opt-out, Barnes & Noble tries to convince you to stay by telling you it offers regular discounts, the store is the nation’s book expert, and that your Borders Rewards Plus Membership is transferred into a B&N membership. I get the store has to market itself, but really? These are not very big incentives. A coupon of some sort for all customers would be a better incentive to begin spending in the other bookstore.
Again, the deadline to opt out by email is October 15th.
If you choose not to opt-out, your information will be transferred and covered under the B&N privacy policy.
