Re: Supermarket 'cookies' targeted by law enforcement

["Laura J. Walker" <LJW6626@worldnet.att.net>]

Margaret Tarbet wrote:

> (By 'cookies' i mean the records generated by the ubiquitous
> cents-off what-are-you-buying cards -- i call them 'cookies' because
> they serve the same purpose as web 'cookies')
>
> >From the PRIVACY list
>
> In one recent case, a major national chain admitted that it had
> provided "club card"purchase information, under subpoena, to
> investigators (in a drug enforcement case) who wanted to know if a
> particular person had bought largenumbers of plastic garbage bags.
> Apparently such purchases may be anindication of involvement with
> illicit drugs (or, perhaps, lots of deciduoustrees in the backyard?
> Are garbage bags classified as a "dual use" technology?)
>
> I believe it would certainly be inappropriate to fault the
> supermarket forcomplying with the subpoena.  But a more fundamental
> question revolvesaround what happens if such investigatory practices
> continue to spread.  Will supermarket and credit card records be
> subpoenaed in civil cases, suchas divorce settlement suits?  Did the
> spouse by a lot of booze?  Racy books?  Whip cream?  Brightly colored
> prophylactics?
>
> In the absence of laws setting down standards for how incidental
> transactional purchase data are protected in different situations,
> abuses are sure to occur.

And this is precisely the heart of the problem -- absence of laws and
legislation setting down standards -- rather than running around and
screaming that "the sky is falling; the sky is falling".

> The problem will only get worse as more persons are luredinto providing
> additional data about their purchases and web browsing habits in exchange
> for free e-mail accounts, discount airline tickets, twenty cents off on a
> jar of mayo, or any number of other goodies.

I wholeheartedly agree -- which is precisely why I rarely answer online
surveys; why I don't purchase products online; and why I am very deliberate
and cautious about the information I provide to anybody.  I also have found
it extremely practical to rent a P.O. box from the USPS, where the majority
of my mail is sent.  I also have an unlisted and unpublished telephone
number.

Laura