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[ NNSquad ] Credit Card companies ponder linking offline card usage to online users for ads, etc. 

Credit Card companies ponder linking offline card usage to online users for ads, etc.

http://j.mp/tNGiYK  (Wall Street Journal)
    
    "The two largest credit-card networks, Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc.,
     are pushing into a new business: using what they know about people's
     credit-card purchases for targeting them with ads online.  Their
     plans, if implemented, would represent not only a technological
     feat-tying people's Internet lives with shopping activities-but also
     an erosion of the idea of anonymity on the Web. It's an effort by the
     two companies to profit by selling access to the insights they gather
     about people with every credit-card transaction."

 - - -

Unless great care is used, and the "creepy line" not crossed, the
potential consumer backlash from this could be enormous.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren 
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org 
Founder:
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org 
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com 
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com 
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein 
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com