ABSTRACT
On January 11, 2001, the attorney generals of 44 states and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted their legal opinions to the Bankruptcy Court of Boston that the online children’s toy store, Toysmart, a subsidiary of the Disney Corporation, should be prevented from selling its customer list while it was in bankruptcy status. Prior to entering bankruptcy, Toysmart had indicated in their privacy policy that no data would be released to other companies. The primary legal basis for this opinion was that the Children’s Online Privacy Act of 1998 requires parental consent for the release of data pertaining to the concerned children. The day after the FTC lawsuit, Disney stepped in and helped dispose of the controversy by paying $50,000 to obtain the list and keep it confidential.
