For some time we've been giving out our personal 'marketing' information to various organizations for a myriad of reasons. Supermarket Club Cards are a perfect example, Ralphs knows how often I buy sodas (every couple of weeks), and what kind (Diet Pepsi) and from where (Yorba Linda, CA) and at what time (Tuesday afternoon, about 1:30). This is perfectly harmless information, only of any real use to the marketing folks who build a model of me based on my buying habits. They know that a discount on Diet Pepsis will probably get me to buy more Cheez-its (I usually buy them at the same time). You might be thinking, big deal, who cares or Wow, Toby packs carbs like a marathon runner. This information is interesting to some people but not really important right? Read on.
Late last year I bought 2 six packs of Smirnoff Ice Triple Black from a Stater Brothers in Costa Mesa, CA. At the check out the cashier asked to see my ID (I was flattered) and then typed something into the register as she slid the drinkies along the conveyor belt (along with more Cheez-its). I asked her what she had typed in to the compter and she told me,
"Your license number"
"Why do you need my license number?", I asked
"It's just so the computer knows I checked your ID." she replied "It's okay". First off, it's not okay, second... who gets to review that list of license numbers?
As you can see, suddenly my marketing history is a little more interesting, if I had been pulled over that evening, a friendly Orange County Patrolman (they are ALL friendly) might've asked if I'd had anything to drink that evening. I would have answered honestly that I had not. The friendly Patrolman would then run my license (just in case I have a warrant for those expired tags) and along with my clean driving history, he MIGHT've gotten a little notice that I had bought some liquor just a few hours before. Far fetched? maybe. Or so I thought...
This article covers a new practice in Missouri. Now the Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator is hiring a private company to compare outstanding debts owed by "scofflaws" to pizza delivery lists. The hook is that "scofflaws" might give false info to the state when it comes to an unpaid ticket or pet license, but you can bet your butt that Dominos knows where you live, what your phone number is, and how many Hot Wings™ you can cram in your Atkins loving gullet.
This scares the crap out of me. Pattern recognition, data mining, (and a whole bunch of other buzzwords that you skipped over when you read that copy of Wired in the john a couple years ago) is real, viable, and happening now. You may not already know this but prospective employers will run your credit report as part of the screening process, what are they looking for? Your fondness for shopping at Best Buy, your steady purchase of online pornography, your huge amount of unsecured debt? What does that do to your chances of getting the job? Will they offer you less money because they smell your desperation? My biggest concern is that private companies are now combining databases (including information collected by government agencies) and building a very vivid model of you, and me.
Private companies have access to goverment databases? The DMV can't keep track of where I live AND where my car is registered, but some private company has that info plus the rundown of what I buy from Foot Locker? The potential is staggering.
Then someone else uses this merged database to make decisions about you, and me. What if a pack of Marlboros from a Vons purchased for someone else negates you getting non-smoker rates for health insurance (as if you could afford it anyway)? Or the fact that I display brand loyalty to Diet Pepsi means that the bluetooth enabled Pepsi machines up the price by 20¢ as soon as I'm within 20 feet? These may be the most innocuous applications of the data. My concern is that I have no idea who has that data and what data are they merging it with, for someone else.
From the article "Michael Daniels, an ACS division vice president, declined to reveal exactly which companies' databases ACS uses."
Ahh yes privacy. I wish I had that luxury.
toby
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