Court: RadioShack can sell some customer data

A court said Wednesday that RadioShack can sell some of its customer data as part of its bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.

The data will be transferred to hedge fund Standard General and its subsidiary General Wireless. A group of 38 states had expressed concerns about whether sensitive customer data acquired by the electronics realtor could be sold.

{mosads}But RadioShack will destroy at least 50 million customer records under the terms of its agreement with the states, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office said in a release. The files destroyed will include credit card information, social security numbers, dates of birth and phone numbers.

“This settlement is a victory for consumers’ privacy nationwide, and could serve as a model for future bankruptcies,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “It’s critically important to safeguard sensitive, personally identifiable information, and we are pleased that the new operators of RadioShack will abide by the privacy pledge they promised to millions of customers. ”

Standard General will be allowed to keep email addresses that customers provided while asking RadioShack for product information. Customers will be able to opt out if they do not want their email address used.

The states’ efforts were led by Texas and its attorney general, Ken Paxton, who hailed the result in the case on Wednesday.

“The fact that 38 states joined together in this case reflects a growing understanding of the importance of safeguarding customer information, and we are pleased that General Wireless will continue to be bound by RadioShack’s existing privacy policy,” he said in a statement.