October 10, 2011 – Customer databases are some of the most valuable assets that businesses have. They take years to build up and contain a wide variety of personally identifiable information; often including credit card data. So it is no wonder that when Borders Books declared bankruptcy that their customer database was snapped up by rival bookseller Barnes & Noble for approximately $14 million. That database contains 50 million former Borders’ customers. It may also create privacy concerns for those customers.

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Thanks to a multistate effort, former Borders customers don’t simply have to allow Barnes & Noble to use their information. That information includes things like names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and credit card information. It also contains past purchase history.

State regulatory agencies across the country have managed to secure and agreement concerning Borders’ database. Soon, former Borders customers will be receiving an e-mail message from Barnes & Noble giving them the opportunity to opt out of the data transfer. Anyone taking advantage of this option will not have their information transferred to the new owners.

Borders customers can also elect to opt out of the data transfer by visiting either the Borders or Barnes & Noble websites.

ACCESS is advising anyone who received an e-mail on this topic to read it carefully. If you elect to opt out of data sharing with Barnes & Noble, do not do so by clicking on links in the e-mail message you receive. Since 50 million e-mail messages will be sent out, this particular mailing is going to be very attractive to phishers and identity thieves who are likely to send out copycat messages.

Instead, you should type in the name of either Borders or Barnes & Noble’s websites manually (or you can follow our links to them).

It should also be pointed out that if you have changed your e-mail address since the last time you shopped with Borders, or if you have strong SPAM filters on your e-mail account, there is a good chance that you won’t receive their e-mail. In this case, if you want to opt out then your only option is to visit one of their sites. 

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