Archive for the ‘tracking’ tag
FTC: Sears Violated Customer Privacy Through the Sin of Omission
The Federal Trade Commission today entered a consent order today finding that Sears Holdings Management Corporation (Sears and Kmart) by which Sears settled FTC charges of failing to disclose the scope of collection and usage of customer data and web activity. This, according to a statement by the FTC, constituted a deceptive practice.
Affected customers were members of the “My SHC Community”, who would pay $10 to participate. These customers would then be asked to download research software. A description of the nature of the software was buried in a “lengthy user license agreement.”
Under the settlement, Sears will not only destroy the information collected by the “research software” but also make a separate disclosure as to the nature and purpose of any future web tracking software, including any possible sale of the data to third parties.
The proposed settlement is open for public comment until July 6, 2009. Those interested can visit the FTC website for further information.
