I’m sure you’ve always wondered why pretty much every retailer unnecessarily asks you for your email address at checkout. For years, I’ve always declined and will definitely continue to do so, particularly after reading the following.
Another day, another reminder that companies don’t really have to abide by promises to not share your personal information. They have a big “but” in their contracts.
Last week, it was WhatsApp and Facebook. We’ll get to that in a moment.
This week, millions of Sports Authority customers began receiving notices that their e-mail addresses and other data were about to be transferred to competitor Dick’s Sporting Goods. The transfer is legal because Sports Authority declared bankruptcy and sold off its spare parts this summer. Dick’s, smartly and legally, bought the customer information. According to the L.A. Times, a treasure trove of 25 million e-mails and some other data cost Dick’s $15 million. So you might not think your…
