XY Magazine To Destroy Subscriber Info

Last month the Federal Trade Commission issued an unprecedented warning to the owners of the defunct XY Magazine, telling them that a plan to sell its massive subscriber list could endanger some of the title's former readers who still lived with their parents. JMG reader Band tips us today that the magazine's publisher has agreed to destroy those records.

The agreement highlights an important issue that sits below the surface of the digital economy. As companies close and buy and sell to one another, the fate of the valuable user data everyone holds becomes an issue. Most privacy policies are unclear about this issue or do allow for transfer of personal information to new owners. But as the tracking and ad targeting technologies online become more sophisticated, user profiles will be come denser and more valuable.

At its peak, XY Magazine and its companion gay youth dating site may have had as many as one million subscribers.