Web Coupons Know Lots About You, And They Tell

[keepinitreal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/business/media/17coupon.html

[AngelinaCatHub]

This is not a new concept. The little "proffered Customer" cards and key-chain tags that stores such as Kroger, Winn Dixie, ABC Liquors, CVS pharmacy, Kmart, and a multi amount of others data collect what you purchase.

This is "usually" as stated above, used for marketing study and product placement. It CAN be used to profile YOU by police agencies.

Your credit card also can profile you. Let us say you like wine. You purchase in a month so much and then authorities can by your purchasing habits, profile you and perhaps your Health Insurance would go up since you imbibe above average amount of alcohol. Many felons are tracked by use of a stolen credit card and can be traced to a ten square mile area within hours. Purchase of gasoline in a get away for instance.

I was amazed when I sorted my Quicken Check Register for the six months bills when I noted where I spent my money. Some of it I sure didn't want the Trustee to see.

I am a computer consultant and use "go to my pc" as a tool and was concerned that the monthly charge would be questioned.

For true anonymity, cash only. However using the "preferred Customer" cards save you a lot of money and the store is actually paying you for your information if you do not mind this. 'Hub

[Flamingo]

This is absolutely nothing new and just an extension from sending in stuff via snail mail, now it is more extensive due to the internet. Ever send in the warranty cards that come with items or send in survey cards (or participate via phone) in response to the freebies offerred on the bottom of your sales slip? Once you give out your phone number or email address to any of these (or, of course, anything on line to subscribe to anything), you are tracked and your information sold out to mailing lists or popped into databases. The more you give it out, the more junk snail mail and internet spam you will receive and the more your identity can be comprised...

[Flamingo]

...and just to give you an idea on a different version/extension of this subject as to Google, while I was typing my response above, the ads in this thread that appeared were offering free "coupons" for places in my area.

[frogger]

However using the "preferred Customer" cards save you a lot of money and the store is actually paying you for your information if you do not mind this. 'Hub

Perhaps, if you had given them the correct name, address and phone number. Some of us didn't.

[WhatMoney]

Your credit card also can profile you. Let us say you like wine. You purchase in a month so much and then authorities can by your purchasing habits, profile you and perhaps your Health Insurance would go up since you imbibe above average amount of alcohol.

Well, since wine has been shown to improve life expectancy and reduce cardiovascular problems, I think they should give you a discount on health insurance for purchasing wine. Cigarettes and Twinkies are another matter.

I have no problem with my purchases being profiled. It saves me money when I get coupons I would otherwise never find. Now if you hang out at child porn sites and use your credit card - you deserve whatever you get.

...and just to give you an idea on a different version/extension of this subject as to Google, while I was typing my response above, the ads in this thread that appeared were offering free "coupons" for places in my area.

Nothing new here - everytime you click on a web page your IP is revealed. From your IP it is a simple matter to identify your location often to within a few miles. My IP location shows up at the server farm nearest me, 1 mile down the road. If you want anonymity on the Internet, use an anonymizer/proxy program to hide your IP.