Following mediation in federal bankruptcy court, Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin today announced a settlement with RadioShack over the sale of its customers' personally identifiable information.
Thirty-eight states, including Rhode Island, joined together to oppose the sale of consumer data earlier this year to stop the sale of personal identifying information, including name, phone number, email address, and past purchases obtained when shopping at Radio Shack or through Radio Shack promotions, to General Wireless, the company that obtained bankruptcy court approval to purchase RadioShack's entire e-commerce business, intellectual property and remaining assets, including certain customer data limited by this settlement.
"This resolution protects the privacy of former Radio Shack customers and serves as a road map for future bankruptcy proceedings involving a consumer's personal information and buying habits. That type of information has a high monetary value, and the sale of such an asset during a bankruptcy may allow outstanding creditors to recoup some losses, but it cannot be done at expense of consumers' privacy," said Attorney General Peter Kilmartin.
Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement approved yesterday, by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon, the overwhelming bulk of RadioShack consumer data will be destroyed, and the new owner of RadioShack will not gain access to any sensitive personally identifiable information, including credit or debit card information, social security numbers, telephone numbers or dates of birth.
General Wireless will be permitted to retain only the email addresses previously given by RadioShack customers requesting product information, and those customers will be provided an express ability to opt out before their email addresses are transferred to the new owner.
Out of the 8.5 million customer email addresses in RadioShack's files, the new owner will be allowed to retain only the email addresses of those who specifically requested product information in the last two years. General Wireless further agreed it will not sell or share any of this customer information in the future with any other entity, including its new co-branded business partner Sprint Communications.