FTC to scavengers: Radio Shack corpse doesn't include customer data The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued an official warning to the companies taking over the assets of North American electronics retailer Radio Shack — namely, don't touch customer data. "We understand that RadioShack’s customer information constitutes a potentially valuable asset," FTC Consumer Protection boss …
Of course the customer data is good, and don't call me Shirley!
Adios, Radio Shack, once important enough to get lampooned on "The Simpsons"
"Homer: We'll search out every place a sick twisted solitary misfit might run to."
"Lisa: I'll start with Radio Shack."
(The problem with Radio Shack was that they got "Amazon'd" by various online electronics retailers, and running thousands of storefronts was just too expensive. By the time the end came, Radio Shack had very largely become a mobile telephone handset/service plan retailer.)
Yea the telephone dealer really irked me I used to shop there often, but got fed up with being asked if I wanted a new phone, and being pestered by employees who didn't know anything. Then there were the insane prices I remember once paying $5 for a friggin blue LED when I needed one at the last minute. Online I was able to order them after that 100 of the same LED for $6 shipped...
Then they reduced all their part inventory to one friggin drawer system... that was when I really stopped going as I had to order 80-90% of the parts I needed from places online anyways why not order all the stuff, and save $10 while I'm at it.
All too often, it doesn't even last *that* long... Ask anyone in the States with an Anthem health plan.
This is a serious conundrum, though. There is no personal guaranty. The asset (personally identifiable information, or PII) could be sold to a well-meaning organization which, in five years, sells to an overseas firm, beyond the reach of any US bankruptcy court or the FTC. Of course, it could also be pilfered from within long before that.
I always despised and resented the RS practice of asking for my name & phone number *every* blessed time I ran in to buy a pack of AA batteries. When I was younger and less attuned (read: young & stupid, for all of you under-50 types!), I would actually give them my mailing address. Ugh... I need to go shower, now.
Good.
Although there really needs to be more consideration of how this same transfer of customer data works when companies are bought or taken over.
Say I bought a bunch of those 'Nest' deathtrap devices specifically because I liked their commitment to not use my data for any other purpose and never to sell it to advertisers. They then go and sell their company to Google who ARE an advertiser.
In such situations, all existing customer data - and all new data generated by existing customers (in perpetuity) - should be kept completely and utterly isolated from any other part of the business. The reason it must be done for new data generated by existing customers is that for some things (e.g. Nest), continual use of the devices you have already purchased generates new data. In other words, you may choose not to buy any more devices but wish to simple use the ones you already have.
Yes, I realise that requirement would place a burden on businesses but if personal is valuable and privacy is important then that must be the first concern.
It's kind of the end of an era. RS was one of the last stores that had a smorgasbord of electronics, computers, discrete components, hobby items, etc. Being the geek that I am, I used to go in there as a kid and wish I had money to buy half the store. Also, one of my first computing experiences was playing games for hours on the demo TRS-80 model I while the sympathetic store manager looked on. I had one of their "150 in one" electronics project kits as a kid and that helped shape me into the nerd I am today as well.
It seems like Radio Shack was trying to fill a niche that didn't really exist after 1990 or so. The world passed them by while they blinked. They were trying to be a jack of all trades I guess. Unfortunately the serious electronics hobbyists would only stop in for last minute things as the selection and pricing was better elsewhere. Only the very unsavvy would buy overpriced rebranded electronics gear and batteries there, and the "You've got questions, we've got answers" staff was unfortunately often clueless and untrained... except on how to upsell you a cell phone contract. But they never were 'hard sell' and they were either too small of a target or didn't survive long enough in our current age for a customer data breach to occur. Apparently anyway.
Let us all mourn the slow death of a gentle giant. Raise your glasses to the now defunct "Archer", "Realistic", "Microntis", and "Tandy" brands, and place your free battery club card on the casket as you leave.
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