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Reports say website makes customers’ purchases available to scrutiny of others; in related news, some say the company installs intrusive tracking software on the computers of Web visitors

SAN FRANCISCO
Sears was hit with a barrage of criticism last week after news organizations reported that the retailer had allowed data on customer purchases to be accessible on a website.

ComputerWorld reports that the Sears-related site, which provides downloads of product manuals, product tips, and home renovation tips, also has a “Find Your Products” feature that lets customers look up past purchases.

The problem, reports the Washington Post, is that anyone armed with a name, phone number, and address can download histories of past purchases — theirs and anyone else’s. The Post displayed an example in which a researcher displayed purchases that his parents’ neighbors made from Sears over nearly a decade (blanking out the names and address on the screenshot).

Critics say in addition to the intrusiveness issue, consumers should be concerned about burglars, who could theoretically use information available in the phone book to canvass a neighborhood to see who has made expensive purchases recently.

Sears did not immediately respond to the ComputerWorld report.

Privacy advocates also criticized the company for installing what they characterize as spyware on computers of surfers who visited another company website over the holidays, reports the technology network CNET. The software installed by the site when users join the particular community tracks users’ online behavior.

Spyware is typically defined as software that secretly monitors user behavior, transmits private data to a third party, and sometimes alters computer and Web browser functions. But there is some dispute over the boundary between what makes up acceptable tracking and what is characterized as spyware.

According to a report from the London Daily Register, Sears says it goes to great lengths to alert consumers to the tracking aspect of the software.

A university researcher who is a critic of the firm says the warning comes on page 10 of a 54-page privacy statement.

Sources: ComputerWorld, Jan. 4 — Washington Post, Jan. 4 — CNET, Jan. 4 — Register, Jan. 4.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Dec. 3, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 5, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 1, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 10, 2007 — Related Newsline story, June 4, 2007.