From Pine View Farm

Privacy, Schmivacy 2

Even as the public falls on the fainting couch over the NSA, Arthur Dobrin says, “Give it up already.”

A nugget:

The reality is that almost everything about you is already known, if not by the government, then by business. Every time you get on an airplane, you are scanned. Every time you search for a product online, the information falls into the hands of retailers who want you to buy their products.

(snip)

Last year an indignant father accused Target of maligning his daughter by sending her coupons for baby items. It turns out Target knew better than the father. The girl hadn’t yet told her father the news. Data-mining did the job.

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2 comments

  1. George Smith

    June 18, 2013 at 11:56 am

    I’m not sure that last is very relevant. I remember stories when I was a kid about the friendly druggist telling parents, at the counter, what one of the children had been seen purchasing. 

     
  2. Frank

    June 18, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    Perhaps, but the local dentist did not aggregate all his patient transaction, wrap them up in an SQL database, and offer to sell them to all comers.