The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania has found that many Americans do not think trading their personal information in return for personalized services, giveaways or discounts is a good idea, but they are resigned to having little say over what companies do with their info. According to a survey conducted by the school, 55 percent of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that “it’s O.K. if a store where I shop uses information it has about me to create a picture of me that improves the services they provide for me.” Ninety-one percent of respondents disagreed that it was fair for companies to collect information about them without their knowledge in exchange for a discount.
Profiling by either government or the “private sector” has serious implications for our rights.