XY.com was a magazine that catered to gay teens, a category of users that sought privacy for personal, familial and safety reasons. The founder of the magazine, Peter Ian Cummings, shuttered the magazine in 2007, the web site in 2009, and the information collected has (presumably) sat dormant since then.
In February of this year, Cummings filed for personal bankruptcy protection. Although Mr. Cummings had little in the way of assets, he did list the editorial content and users’ personal information as a personal asset. Now, creditors of Mr. Cummings want the users’ personal information sold and the proceeds distributed to creditors. Can that happen if XY.com’s privacy policy says nothing about bankruptcy but does say “[w]e never give your info to anybody”?
Continue Reading Potential Bankruptcy Sale of Personal Information From Gay Teen Magazine Has Privacy Implications – FTC Objects