After peeking at who's buying what where, I have to admit that it's pretty interesting. However, companies profiled will quickly change their buying habits to make this feature useless by: 1. Stop shopping at Amazon altogether. 2. Instruct employees to use a generic e-mail address like @yahoo.com or @hotmail.com
I think Amazon should definitely offer people an opportunity to opt out, especially companies. There is a very high probability that their rivals will use this information to their advantage. However, I think purchase circles based on geography are more acceptable. They are more anonymous (assuming it's not a population of 100) but also less interesting than company data.
For those of you who vow not to shop at Amazon anymore, be aware that ALL the companies are going to be doing this. They just won't tell you about it. The bookstore tracks your purchases. The credit card company tracks your purchases. The company you work at might track your net usage. Maybe your ISP even tracks your surfing to find out what sites are the most popular amongst its members. The safest option is to go into a bricks and mortar store and buy things with cash. It's a little more inconvenient and a litte more expensive, yes. But if you're paranoid, it's the best way.
The name of the new Michael Moore show would be "The Awful Truth" which also airs on Bravo in the US. Hilarious stuff. Kudos to Bravo for picking it up. Just goes to show that anyone with opinions that offend the commercial sponsors will quickly get knocked off the major networks...
Slashdot Mirror
After peeking at who's buying what where, I have to admit that it's pretty interesting. However, companies profiled will quickly change their buying habits to make this feature useless by:
1. Stop shopping at Amazon altogether.
2. Instruct employees to use a generic e-mail address like @yahoo.com or @hotmail.com
I think Amazon should definitely offer people an opportunity to opt out, especially companies. There is a very high probability that their rivals will use this information to their advantage. However, I think purchase circles based on geography are more acceptable. They are more anonymous (assuming it's not a population of 100) but also less interesting than company data.
For those of you who vow not to shop at Amazon anymore, be aware that ALL the companies are going to be doing this. They just won't tell you about it. The bookstore tracks your purchases. The credit card company tracks your purchases. The company you work at might track your net usage. Maybe your ISP even tracks your surfing to find out what sites are the most popular amongst its members. The safest option is to go into a bricks and mortar store and buy things with cash. It's a little more inconvenient and a litte more expensive, yes. But if you're paranoid, it's the best way.
The name of the new Michael Moore show would be "The Awful Truth" which also airs on Bravo in the US. Hilarious stuff. Kudos to Bravo for picking it up. Just goes to show that anyone with opinions that offend the commercial sponsors will quickly get knocked off the major networks...