Club Nintendo: sign up again by July 15 or lose Star points

Club Nintendo fans in Europe have been told this week that they risk losing their entire stock of Nintendo 'Stars' if they don't agree to new privacy terms.

Customers have until July 15 to agree to new terms which give "permission to gather information about your online activities on our web site and with Nintendoâs products," a Nintendo statement said.

The company said the move was necessary "To allow us to implement additional features on our website, to improve our products and to adapt them to our usersâ needs and preferences."

However, a stern warning later in the email - sent out on June 29, and again yesterday - revealed that users must comply with the new terms by Sunday or have their entire memberships deactivated.

The email stated: "If you choose to DECLINE our new Privacy Policy , you will from [July 15] onwards no longer be able to use your Stars in the Stars Catalogue, as we will be forced to deactivate your Nintendo membership."

The new privacy terms will give Nintendo the authority to track users' browsing habits on the Nintendo site, as well as their Wii console useage. The statement said: "Nintendo will collect information about the way you use your Wii and the Wii Network Services including, but not limited to, information about the games you download and/or play and how long you play them."

However, closer inspection of the new privacy terms revealed an incentive to allow Nintendo access to users information. By linking the Wii Shop Channel account to the Club Nintendo account, users will be able to redeem Stars (included as a scratch card within every first party Nintendo title) to get Wii Points online, claim Stars for Virtual Console games purchased, and be able to check statistics from Wii games with online functionality - all depedant on availability, Nintendo said.