RadioShack is trying to auction off its customer data on some 117 million customers as part of its court-supervised bankruptcy.
The data in question, according to a legal challenge (PDF) launched by Texas regulators on Friday and joined by the state of Tennessee on Monday, includes "consumer names, phone numbers, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, and, where allowed, activity data."
The states say the sale breaches the 94-year-old chain's promises to its in-store and online customers that it would not sell their personal identifying information (PII) data.
"The Debtors have affirmatively stated in multiple privacy policies currently in effect that consumer PII will never be sold. Yet the Debtors come before this Court with a Motion which seeks to do precisely that," according to the challenge.
The states claim that RadioShack told its online customers (PDF) that "We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to anyone at any time." Signs at RadioShack's brick-and-mortar stores had similar language, according to the suit. "The information you give us is treated with discretion and respect. We pride ourselves on not selling our private mailing list. From time to time, we may send you information from our company or from select, responsible companies that may join with RadioShack to bring you special offers," said a sign at a Florida store, according to an exhibit (PDF).
It's not just the states that are objecting. AT&T claims that part of the data isn't even RadioShack's to sell and instead is AT&T's through a mobile-phone selling arrangement.
RadioShack, meanwhile, claims the number of affected consumers is being exaggerated by Texas and Tennessee.
The data has vast marketing power. But its financial value is unclear. No price tag was included. But the states, not meaning to stall any sale, want the judge to require that "any buyer be required to allocate a separate price for PII so that in the event the Court should sustain the State of Texas’s objection, such ruling would not undermine the sale of the Debtors’ other assets."
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. It listed more than $1.3 billion in liabilities and $1.2 billion in assets.
Standard General is said to have been the highest bidder for RadioShack's assets in a plan that provides $535 million in financing, Bloomberg News said, citing anonymous sources Tuesday. A Standard General affiliate wants to convert 4,000 RadioShack stores to Sprint stores.
The bankruptcy court in Delaware has not ruled on the bid or the objections from Texas and Tennessee.
reader comments
136