Peter Aitken > wrote:

> I'm sorry but I can't go on. One line in your post says it all:

>> Therefore that no one can provide you with data to prove
>> this is happening doesn't mean anything

> Translation:

> "The fact that there is no evidence to support my position is in itself
> support for my position"

> This is really classic paranoid twaddle.There *are* reasons to be concerned
> with privacy and government intrusion, but when people like you run about
> wringing your hands and issuing dire warnings about non-threats such as
> grocery databases, it only hurts the privacy cause because the other side
> can point at you and say "See - they're a bunch of loonies."

I couldn't agree more! Although store loyalty cards are relatively new,
many businesses have been offering their goods and services to preferred
customers for a long, long time.

For example, many coffee shops have a buy ten, get one free deal. Any
merchant who is fond of making a profit gives preference of his limitted
time and resources to his best customers. This is true for grocery stores,
but also for lots of other different businesses.

For example, before my dad retired, he was a carpenter contractor.
Believe me, my dad knew quite well who his most loyal customers were,
and he made sure my sister, mom, and I knew too (for when they called
my dad at home). If a new customer called my dad to have a closet built,
my dad would almost always schedule an appointment within two weeks. If
the customer was someone who my dad viewed as a preferred customer, my
dad would frequently be at that customer's work site within two days
to provide an estimate.

In my work as a Unix systems manager here at Temple, I can tell easily
which vendors view me as a preferred customer and which do not. As I
write this, I am expecting a hardware shipment with a value will into
the six figures. The sales guy from reseller who is supplying this hardware
knows full well the value of my loyalty as a customer and I can call him
and others at the reseller at home, pretty much any time.

For those resellers where I only send them a moderate or little
business each year, I generally expect to have less attentive
service when I call to make requests such as getting a price quote
for some item.

Look at airlines. I think 99% of the airlines in business in the
United States offer a frequent flyer program. Is it fair that a
guy who has to fly for business twice a week gets better treatment
than someone like me who only travels on that airline two or three
times a year? Perhaps not, but life is not fair.