eBay has announced it will change many of its customers’ privacy settings.
Online auctioneer eBay yesterday notified its users to say that it would change their privacy settings. The company’s official policy is that when users sign up, they will automatically receive emails from eBay and its commercial partners notifying them about news, offers and special events, but that users have the right to opt out of receiving these. However, eBay has just realized that due to technical errors, many users had opting out as their default setting.
The company has decided that the best way to get around this is to reset these users to the official default setting of receiving email promotions – even though many would have chosen to opt out even if it had not appeared as the default. The users have until January 23 to go to the eBay site and opt out, before they start receiving these bulk emails.
It’s fair to say that eBay has done nothing illegal and that many of the affected consumers will be interested in the promotions the company offers. However, eBay still has not made the most sensible move.
As with Amazon’s change of privacy policy last year, when the company started to make its customer database available to external companies, the move raises a major concern common to eCommerce consumers around the world. Worries about eSecurity are still a critical barrier to online purchasing. Data protection and respect for privacy are closely linked with this in eConsumers’ minds. Many feel that even though it is within its legal rights, a market leader such as eBay should lead by example on this issue. If a category-leading B2C site is perceived not to uphold consumer rights, what chance the rest of the industry?
This problem will hold back eCommerce for the foreseeable future. Even if eBay decides that keeping customers happy is more important than making short term gains, similar issues will continue to arise involving other firms. International privacy standards may be required to overcome such difficulties.
