Findings, Recommendations and Conclusions

The complainant alleged that a non-BBBOnLine Privacy Program Participant, CDW Computer Centers, Inc., violated its privacy policy by allowing someone else access to his account at CDW which resulted in misuse of his credit card information. CDW responded by stating that the occurrence of this error would not be possible as a credit card must be entered into the system every time a purchase is made since credit card data is not retained by CDW. A transaction is only completed when the credit card information has been received. The complainant did not further pursue the concern with BBBOnLine upon receipt of CDW's response.

In light of CDW's response and the steps that the company took to address the complaint, it is the opinion of the BBBOnLine Privacy Program Privacy Policy Review Service (PPRS) that CDW abided by its online information and security practices even though CDW's privacy notice only briefly describes its online security measures and the types of information collected.

To prevent further complaints, PPRS strongly recommends that CDW expand their website's privacy notice to accurately reflect the types and uses of personally identifiable information collected online, including policies regarding collection, use and retention of credit card data. As a helpful reference tool, please do not hesitate to visit BBBOnLine's sample privacy.

Company Statement:

"Since this original issue was brought to our attention, major changes to our privacy policy have been made. This policy goes into a great deal of detail with regard to information collection and retention. To view this page, go here: http://www.cdw.com/inside/inside/privacy.asp"