The predictive ability borders SPOOKY but... are you sure we aren't
confusing ethics with morality?

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-ethics-and-morals.htm

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-purchase-privacy-1282.php

My quick answer to your question is this -- people who apply for
credit cards have signed away their rights to privacy regarding their
purchases, it's built into the application.  They continue to
reinforce this every time they use the card.  I think the only way to
avoid this is with cash and by not filling out product registration
surveys.

But even then, even the local mom-and-pop shop is going to do some
sort of customer modeling -- they don't want to try and sell products
that don't appeal to you, and will want to load their shelves with the
stuff that does.  Even if you use cash, the clerk or store owner who
knows you by name will be able to build a list of things you like to
buy, or simply by watching what items sell the best.

Mike

On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 2:33 PM, Benjamin Krueger
<[email protected]> wrote:
> I'd like to pose an interesting question to the list. Forbes published an
> article today detailing retailer Target's data mining practices. In
> particular, Target tracks customer purchase by credit card number (in
> addition to, of course, membership cards) and uses that data to glean highly
> accurate and often extremely personal data about their customers. They then
> use this data to tailor their marketing efforts to individuals. In other
> words, the digital realm is invading the real world.
>
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