Registering/Accounts with online vendors

[Bob Batson]

At 12:50 PM -0500 7/21/02, Jonathan Hutchins wrote:

>I think the "danger" of targeted marketing is vastly overstated.  The
>information usually taken is only that required to validate purchase
>information.  It's more than you'd give for a direct cash sale, but no more
>than for a phone order.  You give similar information in most direct

[snip]

>If I thought a business had questionable motives in collecting normal
>shipping and billing data when I made a purchase, I would ask myself why I
>was buying from them in the first place.
>
>What are you buying that you don't want tracked, Bob?

I was going to buy a book, no - not _The Anarchist's Cookbook-, just 
an alternative history book called _1633_. I don't care if the order 
is tracked by the store or not.

I've done a lot of shopping via the Internet as I'm handicapped (in a 
wheelchair) and trying to shop in stores can be a royal pain, 
especially near the Holidays. Then it's next to impossible.

I've just noticed the more and more online vendors either request or 
require you to register and establish an account before ordering. I 
just wondered why!

-- 
Bob Batson
rcb at kc.rr.com

Chocolate is the true opiate of the masses!