Best Buy is changing its online privacy policy, allowing the company to combine customer information from its Web site with that collected in its stores.
As part of the policy modification, the company also said it may share with third parties information collected from surveys or reviews on its site. The company has begun notifying customers of the changes via e-mail; the updated policy will go into effect June 9.
The shift raised the eyebrows of some privacy advocates. The changes are only the latest in a disturbing trend of companies revamping their privacy policies to the detriment of consumers, advocates say. Companies usually make such changes themselves, taking little input from customers and leaving them with little recourse.
"This illustrates the fact that privacy policies don't mean anything," said Chris Hoofnagle, legislative counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "It's unfair, and very little has been done by authorities to end these practices."
But Best Buy spokeswoman Joy Harris said that combining online and offline data will help the company serve customers better. Already 40 percent of the company's in-store customers research products through the BestBuy.com Web site, she said.
"It only makes sense that as a retailer whose customers shop online and in stores that we need to have the data combined," Harris said. "This really helps us offer customers a more seamless clicks-and-mortar experience."
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