More "you're not paranoid enough", private sector division.

I have to get a new file cabinet for this stuff, its spilling out everywhere. This one from our loyal reader Marco The Magic One Trick Pony:

Target stores know if you're pregnant. 

Every time you go shopping, you share intimate details about your consumption patterns with retailers. And many of those retailers are studying those details to figure out what you like, what you need, and which coupons are most likely to make you happy. Target, for example, has figured out how to data-mine its way into your womb, to figure out whether you have a baby on the way long before you need to start buying diapers.

Both this link and the original  New York Slimes story are worth reading. The surveillance is literally all-encompassing. The potential for abuse is overwhelming.

If its creeping you out like it does me, may I suggest snipping the credit card and paying cash for stuff? Because its not the big ticket items they're figuring you out with, its what brand of lotion and how many cotton balls you bought this week compared to last month.

The Cash is King Phantom