Personal information becoming less personal.

There was a time when companies repected your privacy because it was the right thing to do. It wasn't a question of business ethics, rather a personal moral conviction. People understood there was information that could be used, but most business people found it repugnant to get down to such an individual level. That's not the way it is anymore. It's been a slow slide to where little by little we believe that any information you acquire about a person can be used to market something. Where did it all begin? Probably with aggressive marketing ideas that intellectually make sense.

I think it began at Radio Shack. I know some of you may be laughing, but it's Radio Shack. Do you remember when you would go into the store and buy an electronic part for 59 cents and they would force, and I mean force you to give them a name and an address. You would ask, "Why do you need that?". They wouldn't always have a good answer, they just said it was part of their sales process, but their catalog would show up in the mail a week or two later. That stunk. There isn't any difference between that and what goes on today, only now it's faster, cheaper and more integrated.

That's where it started for me anyway and I don't like the need to know about everything about me so they can sell something.

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