The story behind the cartoon
Attorneys general for 39 states and the District of Columbia filed a joinder in Delaware bankruptcy court on October 29, backing the Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog: if Character Technologies sells or transfers anything holding its users' personal or sensitive information, including minors', a consumer privacy ombudsman is necessary first. The filing adopts the US Trustee's October 27 objection to the company's Disney-led sale procedures, and the judge hears that dispute on October 30.
Disney's $20 million opening bid buys a non-exclusive license to code and patents and explicitly excludes the app, user data, and chats — but the states say the sale motion does not make it 'readily apparent' that the company is also marketing its entire platform. Their earlier filing put US accounts at more than 21.6 million, over 2.1 million of them declared under 18.
Character says its privacy policy already permits the transfer, so no ombudsman is required, though it says it would consent to one under appropriate circumstances; Disney says it buys no user data at all. An ombudsman would test whether the privacy promises made to users survive a change of owner — and bankruptcy law requires the appointment at least seven days before the sale hearing, leaving little slack on the proposed November auction calendar.
The joke is the confessional at auction: the user is still inside, mid-whisper to her robot, while the auctioneer raises his gavel and the bidders raise their paddles — and the only thing standing between the sale and her secrets is a scruffy watchdog in a PRIVACY vest. Some things are not lot numbers, even in bankruptcy.
THE FRIENDSHIP BAN
THE GET-OUT-OF-LAWSUITS CARD
THE LAST MESSAGE.
THE ESTATE SALE.