Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!hp-pcd!hp-vcd!johne
From: johne@hp-vcd.HP.COM (John Eaton)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: What is private information?
Message-ID: <6750006@hp-vcd.HP.COM>
Date: 14 Jan 91 23:23:25 GMT
References: <1990Dec25.062336.16836@looking.on.ca>
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Vancouver, WA
Lines: 15

<<<
< Being a precisely targetted *customer* is not a problem for me.  It's
< being a precisely targetted something else that makes me nervous.
----------
Something else = taxpayer.

Everyone got upset when the SSA started sharing data with TRW. Imagine
TRW sharing data with the IRS. If the infomerchants in this country can
collect enough data to realisticly estimate your annual income then it
would be worth the trouble for the IRS to compare this estimate with your
reported income.


John Eaton
!hpvcfs1!johne