SAN DIEGO, Jan. 2 -- Toys R Us, Inc., Toysrus.com, Inc. ("Toys R Us"), Coremetrics, Inc. and Counsel for Class Action Plaintiffs today announced that they have reached an agreement to settle the class action privacy litigation against Toys R Us and Coremetrics. Final approval of the settlement agreement by the Court will result in the dismissal of the class action privacy lawsuit. The agreement implies no wrongdoing or violation of consumer privacy by either Toys R Us or Coremetrics, and both companies commit to continue or enhance certain privacy protections for online consumers.
There will be a hearing on February 21, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. before the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California to address final court approval of the settlement agreement.
Coremetrics has agreed to: institute internal policies to ensure the protection of data collected online; recommend to its clients certain online disclosures regarding data collection and usage; maintain an independent privacy seal program; and return or destroy data collected from Toys R Us.
Toys R Us has agreed to: appoint an internal privacy committee to implement and monitor its privacy program; request destruction of Toys R Us data held by Coremetrics; maintain clear and conspicuous hyperlinks to its privacy policy; provide notice to customers of future material changes to its privacy policy concerning disclosure of personal identifying information; and obtain customers' consent before using any personal identifying information in a manner contrary to Toys R Us' privacy policy existing at the time such information was collected.
The term of the settlement is two years.
A copy of the settlement agreement is available to the public for review at the office of the Clerk of the Court, United States District Court, Northern District of California, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102. Additional information about the settlement is available at http://www.privacysettlement.com.
