Office Depot 2012 Annual Report Download - page 16

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breach of our information technology systems could adversely affect our reputation, business partner and customer
relationships and operations and result in high costs.
Through our sales and marketing activities, we collect and store certain personal information that our customers provide to purchase
products or services, enroll in promotional programs, register on our web site, or otherwise communicate and interact with us. This
may include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, contact preferences, and payment account information. We also
gather and retain information about our employees in the normal course of business. We may share information about such persons
with vendors that assist with certain aspects of our business. In addition, our online operations at www.officedepot.com depend upon
the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks, such as information permitting cashless payments.
We have instituted safeguards for the protection of such information. These security measures may be compromised as a result o
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third party security breaches, burglaries, malfeasance, faulty password management, misappropriation of data by employees, vendors
or unaffiliated third-parties, or other irregularity, and result in persons obtaining unauthorized access to our data or accounts. Despite
instituted safeguards for the protection of such information, we cannot be certain that all of our systems and those of our vendors and
unaffiliated third-parties are entirely free from vulnerability to attack. We may experience a breach of our systems and may be unable
to protect sensitive data. Moreover, an alleged or actual data security breach that affects our systems or results in the unauthorized
release of personal information could:
Our business could be disrupted due to weather related factors.
Our operations are heavily concentrated in the southern U.S. (including Florida and the Gulf Coast). As such, we may be more
susceptible than some of our competitors to the effects of tropical weather disturbances, such as hurricanes. In addition, winter stor
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conditions in areas that have a large concentration of our business activities could also result in lost retail sales, supply chain
constraints or other business disruptions. We believe that we have taken reasonable precautions to prepare for weather-related events,
but our precautions may not be adequate to mitigate the adverse effect of such events in the future.
The unionization of a significant portion of our workforce could increase our overall costs and adversely affect our operations.
We have a large employee base and while our management believes that our employee relations are good, we cannot be assured that
we will not experience pressure from labor unions or become the target of campaigns similar to those faced by our competitors. The
potential for unionization could increase if federal legislation is passed that would facilitate labor organization. Significant union
representation would require us to negotiate wages, salaries, benefits and other terms with many of our employees collectively and
could adversely affect our results of operations by significantly increasing our labor costs or otherwise restricting our ability to
maximize the efficiency of our operations.
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• increase costs of doin
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business,
• materially damage our reputation and brand, negatively affect customer satisfaction and loyalty, expose us to negative
publicity, individual claims or consumer class actions, administrative, civil or criminal investigations or actions, and
infrin
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e on
p
ro
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rietar
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information.