posted on September 2, 2000 10:01:42 AM
"Seattle-based Amazon.com which sells products ranging from books to toys to hardware on its site, has posted a revised privacy policy telling customers the information they give is considered a saleable asset."
""As we continue to develop our business, we might sell or buy storesor assets. In such transactions, customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets," ...
posted on September 2, 2000 10:50:47 AM
Yeah, I read that too -- not the whole article but the headline about them selling info. Pretty rotten, huh? I already get enough junk mail (both hard and soft), telemarketing calls, etc.
We can hope they'll at least provide an "opt out" box for customers, but it doesn't sound like it.
Does this mean I can sell the personal data of my eBay customers, or that the people I buy from can sell mine?
posted on September 2, 2000 11:16:42 AM
abacaxi: Thanks for posting this.
Now, HOW does one de-register from that miserable site?
MORE Importantly, HOW shall we convince eBay to NOT follow the Pied Pipers of Seattle, in yet another EGREGIOUS GREEDY manuveur, one which is bound to give more fuel to the concerns of Upscale Consumers to NOT come online while privacy and safety concerns are all so obvious to them?
The first question I like to start with is, "Are you READING to me?"
Then I follow up with as many of the questions on the script that I feel like sitting through. Have fun
posted on September 2, 2000 11:21:25 AM
As it stands there is almost no legal basis for privacy in the US. This is coming to a head as an issue between the european nations and the US due to e-commerce. The privacy laws in the US are all implied and developed case by case. In Switzerland the right to privacy is spelled out in their constitution.
It used to be that people adopted a false new identity in order to flee a criminal past. I can see pursuing a false ID in order to retain some privacy in the future. I am incorperating the posibility of people switching ID and laying false trails of activity in the future to avoid corperate snooping more than govermental in a science fiction book I am writing.
In the RL, in the past, before internet, when one company bought another there was a file cabinet full up with customer records. That file cabinet was always included in the sale.
Customer lists and customer information and lead sheets and sales records are TRADITIONALLY included in the sale of a company. It's been that way for HUNDREDS of years!
http://psychicspy.com/
I can see you.
[ edited by CheyenneRoundup on Sep 2, 2000 11:50 AM ]
posted on September 2, 2000 12:15:37 PM
It's the amateurs that create most problems with spam. They use a stupid "buckshot" approach. Real world mailing lists are targetted to a very narrow group e.g. people have have bought widget A in the the last 3 months.
