Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III and Bill Giannini, acting director of the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs Thursday announced a settlement with RadioShack over the sale of its customers’ personally identifiable information. Tennessee played a leading role in a 38 state coalition to oppose the sale of consumer data.
The settlement will limit information RadioShack can share with new owner General Wireless. General Wireless will only use the information they obtain from RadioShack in the continued operation of the RadioShack brand.
“This settlement will protect the private information of RadioShack customers here in Tennessee and millions of others across the country,” said General Slatery. “Fortunately, the new operators of RadioShack are working with the states and understand how critical it is to safeguard the sensitive, personally identifiable information of their customers.”
General Wireless 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. The electronic retailer will continue to employ approximately 10,000 former RadioShack employees.
Under the terms of the agreement, the overwhelming bulk of RadioShack consumer data will be destroyed. General Wireless 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.
Out of the 8.5 million customer email addresses in RadioShack’s files, General Wireless will only be permitted to retain email addresses of customers who requested product information in the last two years. General Wireless will be prohibited from selling or sharing any of this customer information in the future with any other entity, including its new co-branded business partner Sprint Communications.
“This settlement shows how good teamwork between the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and the Division of Consumer Affairs benefits Tennessee consumers,” said Mr. Giannini.
Consumers may file complaints regarding unfair or deceptive conduct by going online to www.tn.gov/consumer or calling the TDCI Division of Consumer Affairs at 615.741-4737 or toll-free in Tennessee at 1-800-342-8385.