Report cautions consumers to look at online privacy policies

I thought this might be useful for readers being that it is the holiday season. A new report by CyberStreetSmart.org, a project of the New York Public Interest Research Group, rates retail websites on how well their customers' personal information was protected.

AP details the findings:

The group reviewed the privacy policies of 484 online retailers in October and November, focusing on two aspects: how well customers were informed about how their information would be used, and how much control customers have over who has access to their information.

Disneyshopping.com and homedepot.com received screen door awards; sites that won steel door awards include netflix.com, ralphlauren.com and rocawear.com. Disneyshopping.com was rapped because its privacy policy is "very technical and lengthy" and may be hard for people to understand, said Tracy Shelton, a consumer attorney with NYPIRG.

...

Homedepot.com was singled out because its policy says personal information may be transferred if the company is sold.

I did not see which companies it gave 'steel door' ratings to. I'll follow up on this post next week. To read the article in its entirety click here.