I went into the TD Ameritrade branch in Pasadena, California to open an account after speaking with one of their staff on the phone the previous day. I'd done this to make sure I'd have everything I needed with me when I went there as it would be tax deadline (April 15) and I'd have less than an hour to complete my business. The person I spoke with on the phone met with me briefly and put me in front of a computer so I could sign up online. I dutifully filled out the forms, but when I got to the final stage of agreeing to their terms, I could not find anyone there who could explain their privacy policy to me (the agreement stated that they had the right to share my information with third parties, in accordance with a privacy policy stated elsewhere and which was incorporated into the agreement by reference). No one could tell me who these third parties were, no one could provide a copy of the referenced policy; the staffer who I thought was taking care of me had disappeared. After waiting around for 15 minutes, I decided to go to another broker, terminated my computer session, and left. I thought that was it, until I received a spam email from them the next day. Obviously terminating my session without signing the agreement had not erased the information I had entered earlier, information including my email address, my SSN and my mother's maiden name, etc. That is still stored in their database. This worries me no end, as I now have no relationship with them and they're not bound by any agreement, as far as I can tell. I'm writing them to tell them to erase my information, also reporting this incident to FINRA, perhaps also the SEC. Can anyone suggest anybody else?
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