online privacy - does it exist?

edwin said: "not if [url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20050325/ap_on_hi_te/your_amazon_dossier]amazon[/url] has anything to do with it. this is sort of disturbing. i think they've stepped well over the line."

Darren said: "Screw Amazon. They're almost as bad as Google. If these companies are allowed to continue unabted, privacy as we know it is a thing of the past. It's one thing to collect data to ensure a customer has a pleasant shopping experience, it's entirely another to pry into their personal lives with no good reason and unclear policies. They should clearly tell people what data they collect, and why."

AngelaCea said: "Run a search on "ChoicePoint" and you will find a major recent problem that was in the news :mad: :eek:"

Darren said: "Sure. Choicepoint is a great example of a trustee of personal information. They literally handed their files to identity thieves. You have to guard your info these days."

Heather said: "Choicepoint is only one company. Nevada had a bunch of their DMV records stolen, complete with blanks for drivers licenses. That is a reassuring thought."

edwin said: "it's a big potential problem anywhere. all data can be breached."

Darksat said: "Thats why im not a big supporter of data gathering, A9 is a scary idea for a search engine, imagine every single search you ever made logged in a database somewhere, no thanks."

Heather said: "That is the reason I'm not getting in on any Gmail. Most of the stuff that I get isn't even worth reading, why would I let G index and keep all of it for me? Why would I need to?"

Darksat said: "Yahoo is going to 1GB anyway and I havnt even dented the 100meg limit."