Amazon Blames Google for Publishing Private Information

by Suki Mhay

Amazon.com is no longer the epitome of online customer service. They allow our personal information to be accessable by search engines and blame the likes of Google when these details are published rather than owning up to their own responsibilities.

Do you have an Amazon account? Do you trust them not to publish your personal details on the internet? DON'T! I trusted Amazon, until one day I was googling my name, and was shocked to find my full name, address details and more on amazon.com from a simple google search on my name! Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Google Search

This person (not me) doesn't know that her address has been made available to anyone who can use google. Her trust in amazon is being betrayed, she may get more than she "wished" for.

When I contacted Amazon asking for an explanation, their reply showed that they were clueless, and more concerned with ducking responsibility than understanding their problem and putting it right.

Amazon Email

Paula from Customer Service was of the mistaken impression that Google to blame for providing Amazon's customer information. Hmm, and who gave Google access to Amazon's customer's info? That would be Amazon!

Amazon Pamela

I had originally marked my wishlist as "private". This apparently means nothing to amazon. So what's Amazon's privacy policy promise us about our sensitive personal information?

Amazon Information

Amazon promise not to share personally identifiable information with third party websites.

I replied to Laura from Amazon, asking her to escalate the issue. She sent a copy-paste reply, and nothing since.

Am I the only one who feels Amazon have broken their promise and committed a huge blunder and breach of our trust in them? Being an online company, shouldn't we expect a more intelligent and competent response from Amazon?

Aside from not using Amazon's wishlist, what should we do about this?

Thanks for your attention,
Suki Mhay
(Either reply here, or else you already have my "personal details")

Reader Comments

Average Rating:

Total Comments: 2

View or Write a comment


Back to Negotiation Articles

We welcome the republication of this page's contents in part or full - we just ask that you include a clean link back to this site, to our www.negotiationtraining.com.au/training/ page.


 
Reader Comments

Average Reader Rating:       Comments: 2

share your comment


3 of 3 people found the following comment useful:

Amazon needs to cut the crap and own up - 2007 Jul 20
Commentator: AskTheAdmin (United States - New York)

"This is definitely an Amazon issue and not a Google issue. You can control what they crawl and what is sensitive data. Stop looking for excuses and fix the problem.

Thanks for the information from your friends @ http://www.askTheAdmin.com"

Useful Comment? Vote

9 of 9 people found the following comment useful:

Amazon: Respect the folk who put you in No 1 spot - 2007 Jul 19
Commentator: Reg Phillips (United Kingdom - London, City of)

"Amazon: We put you there. We don't expect much in return. Decent customer services. Treating our concerns seriously.

Make no mistake - copy-paste spamming us is disrespecting us, big time. We are the geeks who influence folk to use your service. We persuade technophobes that it's "ok" to shop with you. When we alert you to a problem, pay attention. It's easy enough to switch to your competition."

Useful Comment? Vote
 
.
.

Negotiation Newsletter

Confirm
No
Yes
111