Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

YOUR DATA could be SOLD in RadioShack's bankruptcy auction

Court to rule on privacy bonfire this Thursday

Customer data is being considered as an asset for sale as part of RadioShack's Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction.

The auctions, which took place earlier this week, are set to receive either approval or rejection from a federal bankruptcy court on Thursday.

Among the assets available are 250+ stores in Mexico, just under 1,000 franchise and dealer relationships, a range of intellectual property including patents and trademarks, and a truly enormous collection of customer data.

Hilco Streambank, an advisory firm specialising in the “valuation, marketing, and sale of intagible assets” and serving as an intermediary for RadioShack, list over 65m files containing customer names and physical addresses, and 13m customer emails, among the available assets.

It is unknown whether the bankruptcy court would approve the sale of this information. Bloomberg reports that two legal challenges have been filed regarding the sale of customer data, and that the court "has appointed a 'privacy ombudsman' to handle issues related to sensitive data," although the ombudsman is yet to rule on either challenge."

Standard General LP has increased its initial $145m bid and aims to purchase over 1,700 of the electronics retailer's stores, and hopefully save 9,000 jobs. The deal is reportedly part of a collaboration touted "with mobile network Sprint to create a separate company called General Wireless."

RadioShack filed for bankruptcy on February 5, following years of financial woes which saw its share price tumble from $24.33 in 2000 to below $1 in 2014.

The case (No. 15-10197) is being heard in the US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. ®

 

Similar topics

Similar topics

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like