FTC Finds No Violations in Amazon Policy Change
Amazon's decision last year to alter its privacy policy to allow the sharing of customer data with other companies did not violate federal law, the Federal Trade Commission has determined, according to a Reuters Report.Privacy groups Junkbusters Corp. and the Electronic Privacy Information Center petitioned the FTC in December to determine if the change in policy violated a federal law prohibiting deceptive or unfair trade practices, and bar Amazon from sharing information about customers who had asked to be left off their lists. In a letter to the two groups, Jodie Bernstein, head of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said such a move was unnecessary as Amazon has not sold or traded the data of any of its customers.
In September, Amazon rewrote its privacy policy to state that customer data such as names and e-mail addresses could be shared unless the customers took specific steps to opt out. Seattle-based Amazon previously had a privacy policy of not sharing any personal data of its customers.
