Closure Of Gay Teen Magazine Raises Privacy Fears

When a website promises to keep your information private, does it really have to do it?

That's at the heart of a case in which subscribers to a popular gay and lesbian online magazine are at risk of having their private and personal information sold.

KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator David Quinlan reports that the federal government is trying to stop it.

"I use to read XY when I was younger, and they had a pretty simple policy: They wouldn't share any of your personal information with anyone. It was pretty clear," said Chris Walker of Seattle.

MORE ON THIS STORY FTC Letter to stop sale of XY customer data Human Rights Campaign

Walker is an openly gay man, but as a teenager he relied on XY Magazine as an outlet to help deal with his sexuality.

"Some of the topics in the magazine were really important," Walker said.

But now the popular gay youth magazine is going bankrupt and its assets are being sold. The assets include the private customer information of as many as one million online subscribers.

"With the expectation of that privacy, they could potentially be getting in touch with someone's parents, their family," Walker said. "They could be outing someone when they are not expecting it."

The Federal Trade Commission agrees.

In a letter to the XY creditor trying to purchase the customer list, the FTC said doing so would be a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and their actions would be considered unfair and deceptive.

"The company is bound by the promises it made to people in order to get them to sign up to the website," said Bob Schroeder of the Federal Trade Commission.

Also at risk would be the subscribers' photographs, blogs, addresses and bank account information.

"If it is sold we would have concern about it being used, we would expect the purchaser to follow the law," Schroeder said. Walker, who volunteers for the Human Rights Campaign, hopes the data will not be sold and worries what kind of impact it will have on those if it sold.

"The entire lesbian gay community would be upset to have private information released like that," Walker said.

"The FTC said it will be watching how this plays out. If the data is sold, the FTC says they can and will likely sue.