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To: Kerberos
I'd like to be more in touch with retailers and e-tailers record keeping. Amazon.com will hold a purchase history for at least 5 years and the only way that I know to "purge" it is to close that account and open another. I do not even know if that closure causes the information to be deleted (certainly it would remain on the backup tapes).

Videostores typically keep a record of your renting as well.

In Japan, a ghastly murder of a schoolboy who was decapitated and his head placed on a post on a fence prompted police to run checks on customers who had rented particularly gory/violent films. None were guilty, the crime was committed by a classmate.

The only guarantee against this type of intrusion is for businesses to avoid keeping these close tabs on their customers. To me, that data is costly to store and of very little use.

Knowing that someone bought "Bias" is good to note that "Bias" is still selling. To know that I bought "Bias" and the DVD of "Tommy" is of little relevance. It certianly would give no indication that my next purchase would be "Sushi at Home: A Beginner's Guide To Japanese Cooking".

The grocery stores are into this habit too now.

Meanwhile law enforcement has been trying to reduce the barriers to looking at your medical records. To me, there is absolutely no reason they should ever be permitted access to this data, let alone with a court order.

146 posted on 06/25/2002 1:50:39 PM PDT by weegee
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To: weegee
And I don't necessarily disagree with you. These are some of the complex problems we face in the age of instantaneous information.
149 posted on 06/25/2002 1:57:01 PM PDT by Kerberos
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