Microsoft Caves On Bing Cashback Issue
Written by Fred J. AunA quick folo on a pair of stories we ran last week, where an attorney specializing in high-tech issues complained that a promotion on Microsoft’s new Bing search engine took his personal information but then welched on the deal by not delivering about $185 in cellphone discounts. This week, an attorney for Microsoft agreed to pay the originally promised amount.
The problem was that Mark Rasch, the former head of the U.S. Justice Department’s high-tech crimes unit, was told he didn’t qualify for the discounts only after he’d given Microsoft and AT&T his personal information during the application process. Although Rasch said that he got the money this week, what he didn’t get were any assurances that the companies would delete from their databanks the information he’d provided. “A Microsoft tech guy said, `You can delete your Microsoft Live account,’ but that doesn’t indicate what happens with my information that’s probably being shared with third parties,” Rasch said.
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I have strong reservations about the 'individual' certification and posting of that information for merchants. Can you imagine the potential employee poaching that might occur? The implications when competitors can look up how many are certified with each of their competitors? 
-Christine
