Facebook  Twitter  LinkedIn  

Visit min's sister site:
BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS

XY Mag to Destroy Rather Than Share Personal User Info
Monday, August 16, 2010
Steve Smith

Comment Print Email Article Database Share on Delicious Del.icio.us Digg Digg RSS  Share on LinkedIn Click to share this post on Twitter Reprints
A tussle over the remaining assets of defunct XY magazine has ended in an agreement to protect the identities of former customers of the gay lifestyle and dating properties. After XY declared bankruptcy recently, the business partners fought over ownership of the assets, including the identities and personal information of over one million users. Under the original privacy policy under which people joined the dating and content site, members were assured that their personal information would not be shared with a third party under any circumstances. The Federal Trade Commission weighted in recently, warning that transferring private information from the property would violate the privacy agreement and might constitute deceptive trade practices.

An agreement between the two parties has resolved the issue without litigation. The publisher has agreed to destroy the personal information.

The agreement highlights an important issue that sits below the surface of the digital economy. As companies close and buy and sell to one another, the fate of the valuable user data everyone holds becomes an issue. Most privacy policies are unclear about this issue or do allow for transfer of personal information to new owners. But as the tracking and ad targeting technologies online become more sophisticated, user profiles will be come denser and more valuable. M&A online could be informed in part by the value of the user data a media company holds, so establishing some legal precedents for their transfer among companies will be important.

If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com

COMMENTS
Search Jobs
Media Jobs

App Central

min's App Central (for min subscribers only): Stay on top of mobile app developments with exclusive app reviews, analysis and data.

Please enter the following information to have a link to The Skinny emailed to your iPhone:

White Papers
Get even smarter -- download a white paper today. 


... view Whitepapers
min Contests

min contests
Want to sponsor a min contest?


  Events

      Best of the Web, April 3, 2012

min's Sales Executive of the Year Awards
Call for Entries

min Press

min's Mobile App Report

 View Details
                           

min Presents: The Most Intriguing & Top-Selling Magazine Covers 2007-2010Intriguing & Top-Selling Magazine Covers

 View Details
                           

State of Digital MediaThe State of Digital Media

 View Details
                                                      

                                    Internet Sales            Guidebook

 View Details

All min Press

Inside min This Week
Events Calendar

min's Best of the Web Awards
Event April 3, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt, NYC
Register Today!


min Webinar:
Tablets 2.0: Generating a Revenue Plan for the Tablets Platform
December 8, 2011 1:30-3:00 p.m.
Available on Demand


All Events




min
Free Eletters — Sign up Now
HOME | PUBLICATIONS | AWARDS | EVENTS | TRAINING | E-LETTERS | BOXSCORES | MEDIA JOBS | FREELANCE JOBS | ADVERTISE | SERVICES | SITEMAP | CONTACT US
Copyright © 2012 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Access Intelligence, LLC is prohibited. For more details please see Terms and Conditions.