Do you use store membership cards?

Yes - and they're a great idea.

10 (21.7%)

Yes - but I feel a little silly about it.

5 (10.9%)

Yes - I feel guilty about it, but can't afford not to.

10 (21.7%)

Maybe - don't do much shopping at stores like that.

2 (4.3%)

No - was never asked to sign up.

2 (4.3%)

No - didn't want to waste time signing up.

5 (10.9%)

No - mild privacy concerns.

4 (8.7%)

No - major privacy concerns.

6 (13%)

No - I only shop at underground (no sales tax) flea markets while wearing a ski mask.

2 (4.3%)

Total Members Voted: 25

[Harry Tuttle]

And why does it matter if someone knows that I like Honey Bunches of Oats and Dannon Lite n' Fit Yogurt? If I was worried about someone collecting information about me that had any meaning I would make sure I do not post personal information on a BBS frequented by a programmer who seems to have nothing to do but write scripts to collect and organize information about other posters.

Oh crap. Now Libman's script knows I eat breakfast cereal and yogurt. I hope he doesn't find out that I have a Keurig k-cup coffee maker and fill up my gas tank at Chevron 1-2 times per week.

Oh no! It looks like my inner monologue has ceased to function properly.

 

[Alex Libman]

Well, if you buy "Honey Bunches of Oats" in Store A and then "Dannon Lite n' Fit Yogurt" in Store B, "they" can piece together some details of your route.  If you got between them too quickly, an AI system can send you a speeding ticket automatically.  If there was a hit-n-run on the projected route between the store(s) and your house around the time you would have been driving there, you're on the suspects list.  If you scan a card at a store that's more than 20 minutes away from your house, "they" know it's safe to break in to plant bugs and stuff.  And if you claimed to be a low-carb vegan on your (socialized) medical insurance forms, you got some explaining to do...

OK, yes, I'm being paranoid, and, yes, they can get even better info if you drive (license plate reading cameras) or use a credit card.  I'm just bringing attention to the importance of putting a value on privacy.  If more people shared this cultural trait, free market competition between stores would find a way to give you a 20c discount on oat cereal without tracking your identity in the process...

As for my alias tracking scripts: what happens on the (public) Internet stays on the Internet...  That's the reality of efficient information systems: access to information is easier than what people are used to IRL.  This forum is spidered by Google on daily basis, and there are 1000s of other major search engines out there, and bandwidth and storage will only get cheaper...  So don't post personal info on a public forum if you don't want that info proliferated indefinitely!  Sure, I'm a nice guy, I might remove real names and stuff from my lists upon request (though I can no longer edit the threads created by accounts I've deleted).  Good luck getting all the search engines to do the same...

[Lindsey]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

[Russell Griswold]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Lindsey]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I haven't written one.  Anything in particular you'd like to see in the newsletter? 

[Russell Griswold]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I haven't written one.  Anything in particular you'd like to see in the newsletter? 

A guide to birdwatching swallows. 

[Lindsey]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I haven't written one.  Anything in particular you'd like to see in the newsletter? 

A guide to birdwatching swallows. 

Hmm.  I'm not even sure where to start my research on that! 

[error]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your YouPorn channel.

[Lindsey]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your YouPorn channel.

That reminds me.  I need to get something new.  I'm getting bored with the toys I have.   

[Russell Griswold]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I haven't written one.  Anything in particular you'd like to see in the newsletter? 

A guide to birdwatching swallows. 

Hmm.  I'm not even sure where to start my research on that! 

It is a tough gig, baby.

[error]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your YouPorn channel.

That reminds me.  I need to get something new.  I'm getting bored with the toys I have.  

Let's go shopping!

[Lindsey]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red. 

Is that personal enough for you? 

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I haven't written one.  Anything in particular you'd like to see in the newsletter? 

A guide to birdwatching swallows. 

Hmm.  I'm not even sure where to start my research on that! 

It is a tough gig, baby.

I suppose I'll just have to figure it out! 

[Alex Libman]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red.  Is that personal enough for you?

Why would I care?

[Lindsey]

Alex, the dildo I fucked myself with last night is red.  Is that personal enough for you?

Why would I care?

I didn't think you would.  You were just going on about personal information and such.  I'll get you a nice tinfoil hat for Christmas.   

[Alex Libman]

I'll get you a publicly-accessible Web-site with a fancy Libman-quality AJAX interface that lets people browse / search through a database of every product every bought by Lindsey, including date / times, store locations, etc.  Unique product ID's will point to other databases: store inventory, product details, nutrition information, etc.  People will be able to crunch the numbers in all sorts of creative ways: graph the caloric intake of her purchases over time, figure out on which months her magnesium intake was high or low, create cartogram maps of stores Lindsey frequents, what cuts of meat she prefers, graph her deposition to buy cheaper / tastier / healthier products, video clips of her in the store and parking lot, etc, etc, etc.  For example, I particularly I wanna see if you have a tendency to buy lots of chocolate on the days I'm mean to you online...



(J/K)