The CEO of a company that makes backpacks said he and his employees were threatened after he told police he saw one of the company’s backpacks in a surveillance video of the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Peter Dering, the founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based company Peak Design, issued a statement on Friday after he told the New York Times in a report published on December 5, as soon as he saw the pictures of the bag, he contacted the police. Dering also told The Times if the police asked for help “he would look to his minister for information he can disclose without violating the company’s confidentiality policy.”
“We value the privacy of our customers. There are falsehoods being shared on social media that have caused many threats to the safety of not only me, but our employees as well,” Dering said in a statement. “I ask that you consider the facts we are providing here and continue to put your trust in Peak.”
Dering told The Times in a Dec. 5 story that a phone operator who answered his phone said there were “hundreds” of calls that identified the gray bag worn by alleged gunman Luigi Mangione as a Peak Design item.
However, some took to social media to call Dering a “snitch.” One TikTok user urged owners of Peak Design bags to remove the serial tags from their bags and others suggested returning the bags.
It’s common for a company to share customer information in response to a subpoena or subpoena, according to Greg Ewing, a data privacy attorney in Washington, DC.
“That’s the way most companies are prepared to take in this situation,” he said.
Are companies violating consumer privacy?
Amidst data and privacy concerns, users questioned what tracking wrong numbers would mean for consumers to resell products or buy secondhand.
“What if someone gave it to me as a gift and now I’m going to jail because they committed a crime, because you wanted to tell someone it was my bag?” It’s so scary,” one TikTok user posted on the social media platform.
Ewing said such a situation is possible. The problem is that companies are limited by the data they collect and, in the case of Peak Design, the data is registered voluntarily. If the product is sold and not re-registered, information can be traced back to the original purchaser.
One TikTok user posted in the video, “no one wants you to save the day.” The user asked what information the company can access.
“You didn’t have to tell anyone about anything,” the user said.
Ewing said it’s common for companies to collect information about their customers for marketing purposes. In the case of Peak Design, some customers have registered products to receive a warranty. Peak Design has expanded “serializing” its products allowing the company to track products, including defects.
“Purchasing has been a law enforcement strategy for decades. They can only get a warrant to access the data if the company refuses,” one TikTok user said.
The scene could be similar to police chasing a car that comes through a crime scene, Ewing said. Cars are registered through states and companies, which makes it easy to track their owners.
“It’s the same idea,” Ewing said. “In our economy, around the world, there are some things that need to be recorded. There are other things that are registered by choice – consumer products, like this, are one of them. “
Ewing added Dering has taken appropriate steps to comply with the law and has noted customers who are concerned about privacy should not disclose their information.
CNN’s Chris Boyette contributed this report.
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