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The "we will never sell your data to anyone" in a Privacy Policy effectively means nothing at all. Why are there not consumer protection laws in place to preve

by dm2 11y ago

The "we will never sell your data to anyone" in a Privacy Policy effectively means nothing at all. Why are there not consumer protection laws in place to prevent this? In my opinion, in order to sell customer data you should have to go to court and have a judge look over the data to determine what can be sold.

ascagnel_ 11y ago
This is an instance where a judge can create a consumer protection common law.
madaxe_again 11y ago
I've little faith that any judge would do anything other than "ah. This is something... computer. don't know. Yes?". It's the same "shutters coming down with a bang!" phenomenon as one sees with most non-technical folks the moment they think something technical might be coming their way. Either way, this is a very grey area, as if you tie up corporate affairs with every single one of your customers, it would make your business unsaleable, and make liquidation impossible, so while consumer protection is desirable, there also have to be measures that allow businesses to operate without the explicit consent of each and every one of their customers for any action.
- dm2 11y ago
  I see your point about businesses being unsellable. What's the difference in Facebook acquiring WhatsApp's customer database via purchasing the entire company and it being sold numerous times during a hypothetical WhatsApp liquidation sale? None really, and whatever WhatsApp's (and all other companies) Privacy Policy said about protecting user data is somewhat meaningless.
  - madaxe_again 11y ago
    Yup, nail on head. Increasingly the value in a business is the customer base, and therefore their data - this will only continue as the service economy grows and brand continues to be king.
matthewmcg 11y ago
There's actually a whole section[1] of the bankruptcy code that requires precisely that. The court can even appoint a special consumer privacy ombudsman as it determines what data may be transferred. [1]https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/332 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/332
- dm2 11y ago
  Thanks for posting that. It's good to know that data is somewhat protected after bankruptcy if a company's privacy policy is in favor of it. Here is another good article on that particular subject: https://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?objectID=5918 https://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?object...

by dm2 11y ago

ascagnel_ 11y ago

This is an instance where a judge can create a consumer protection common law.

madaxe_again 11y ago

I've little faith that any judge would do anything other than "ah. This is something... computer. don't know. Yes?". It's the same "shutters coming down with a bang!" phenomenon as one sees with most non-technical folks the moment they think something technical might be coming their way. Either way, this is a very grey area, as if you tie up corporate affairs with every single one of your customers, it would make your business unsaleable, and make liquidation impossible, so while consumer protection is desirable, there also have to be measures that allow businesses to operate without the explicit consent of each and every one of their customers for any action.

dm2 11y ago
I see your point about businesses being unsellable. What's the difference in Facebook acquiring WhatsApp's customer database via purchasing the entire company and it being sold numerous times during a hypothetical WhatsApp liquidation sale? None really, and whatever WhatsApp's (and all other companies) Privacy Policy said about protecting user data is somewhat meaningless.
- madaxe_again 11y ago
  Yup, nail on head. Increasingly the value in a business is the customer base, and therefore their data - this will only continue as the service economy grows and brand continues to be king.

matthewmcg 11y ago

There's actually a whole section[1] of the bankruptcy code that requires precisely that. The court can even appoint a special consumer privacy ombudsman as it determines what data may be transferred. [1]https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/332 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/332

dm2 11y ago
Thanks for posting that. It's good to know that data is somewhat protected after bankruptcy if a company's privacy policy is in favor of it. Here is another good article on that particular subject: https://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?objectID=5918 https://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?object...