Web Firms Choose Profit Over Privacy

An anonymous reader writes "Web Firms Choose Profit Over Privacy details the tactics of retailers and marketers to sell customer data. Examples include promising not to sell consumer data, but then 'renting' the data, and the use of shopping cart software with different privacy policies than the merchant."

Comments

Re:Privacy and such...

[warpath]

The biggest problem with internet privacy issues in the past has been the lack of ability to track sources of information for advertisers - one had no idea whether advertiser XYZ got your address from Amazon.com or Bobscomputers.biz.

I have my own domain name. When I buy from bn.com, I use "bn@mydomain.com" and when I buy from Amazon, I use "amazon@mydomain.com". It's not a perfect system, by any means, but it does allow me a little bit of tracking. If I get spam for "Bobscomputers@mydomain.com", then Bobscomputers.biz is likely the culprit.

If it pays well..

[Xunker]

...some people will do it. It's money, and it's more money than a lot of people realize.

For example, I run a site that's pretty damn big, something like 300,000 accounts so far. I've already gotten several "business inquries" from direct marketing companies asking if I'd like to "rent" my customer data to them -- and some of these people are offering upward of 5 cents per user. And I don't have to tell you that a nickel here and a nickel adds up.

I haven't sold my user lists and never will, but rest assured that if I wanted to there is a huge market of companies that would be willing to let me name my own price.

And that is why companies do it.