"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
.com...
Although I *sincerely* hope that we should never have the need to look up
the NetScan data-mining website, I'm being conservative by posting this
for
the archives:
http://netscan.research.microsoft.co...eportcard.asp? (BTW, it's
tough for me to put "I" and "conservative" in the same sentence, but....)

I may be getting paranoid in my old age, but...... I've taken the liberty
of starting a new thread called "Netscan Datamining" just in case we
should
want to refer to this in the future. (Anyone who's ever tried to google
for
a particular post without knowing the exact thread name or poster can
surely
understand my reasoning.)


The illusion of privacy makes people feel better then true privacy. The
growth of the internet is just publishing what has gone on in back room of
corporate and government offices since the dawn of time.

You never had any privacy, you just believed you did, because your
activities weren't written down, or published. In small towns, everyone
knows everyone, shop keepers keep track of what you buy in their heads, and
occasionally talk with other shop keepers about their customers.

Usenet forums are exactly the same, they are small communities. Estimate
maybe 100-200 active posters, and another few hundred lurkers. Outside of
the community, most people don't care, except for to catalog you into a
demographics slot. Usually with the intent of sending direct marketing
catered to your interests.

Sameer