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Personal information, your privacy and our security

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Frelga
Post subject: Personal information, your privacy and our security
Posted: Fri 25 Mar , 2005 10:44 pm
A green apple painted red
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Joined: Thu 17 Mar , 2005 9:11 pm
Location: Out on the banks
 
I started a thread in The Turf sharing an ACLU ad that presents a hypothetical scenario where a pizza place has access to all your health, travel and financial information.

While discussing that ad, online and IRL, I came across some interesting information about the ways in which private databases containing your personal information may be used and abused to affect or even destroy and individual's life.

Here's one of the more unexpected examples I found, a reader comment in the Crypto-Gram newsletter (scroll to the very bottom)
Quote:
About a week ago, some junk mail arrived at my home from Albertson's supermarket, announcing the creation of their new club card. The ad copy declares: "The labor dispute has been tough on everyone. But one thing we know for sure -- the day it's over, you're going to save like never before. Great low prices and extra special values will be yours... with the new Albertsons Sav-on Preferred Savings Card. Sign up today!"

It got me thinking. Safeway and Ralph's (the other two supermarkets affected by the strike) already have club cards. And one thing THEY now know for sure is which of their customers are willing to cross picket lines to buy groceries, and which aren't.

In other words, the purchase patterns contained in the Safeway and Ralph's club card databases could be EASILY mined for individual customers' sympathies to organized labor.

Think about that. The next time somebody applies for a job at his neighborhood Safeway or Ralph's, should he expect them to check his 2003-2004 shopping habits for hints that he might be pro- or antiunion? And what's keeping the supermarkets from offering this data to other employers, or even the custodians of the Total Information Awareness program?
What does that have to with security? Not much, at least not with national security. I will post more relevant articles as I find them. I do think that it is important for everyone to be aware that their personal and confidential information is a) stored in multiple, often unexpected places b) completely outside of their control c) can and will be used against them.

And that's even without the Government involvement.


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