Attorneys general limit RadioShack's sale of personal information

Attorneys general from 38 states, including Missouri’s Chris Koster, reached a settlement yesterday with RadioShack Corp. limiting the sale of consumers’ personal information as part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.

General Wireless, a newly formed affiliate of Standard General, obtained bankruptcy court approval yesterday to purchase RadioShack’s e-commerce business, intellectual property and remaining assets. Under the agreement, General Wireless will continue to employ roughly 10,000 former RadioShack employees. The agreement, however, comes with a caveat, according to a news release from Koster’s office.

The settlement mandates a majority of RadioShack’s consumer data must be destroyed. General Wireless will not gain access to personal information, such as credit and debit card numbers, Social Security numbers and telephone numbers, as well as dates of birth. The company will be permitted to retain email addresses given to RadioShack during the past two years, but customers will have a chance to opt out before they are transferred. According to the release, customers also can restrict the use of their physical addresses.

No more than 67 million of RadioShack’s 117 million customer files will be transferred to General Wireless, according to the release.