Ti22

I don't have much problem with a business collecting data of what I'm browsing and/or doing on their website. I've clicked windows agreeing to that and 'don't have much issue if they use that information to "tailor" the shopping experience.

Trouble is, what operational decisions have and will be made when interacting with Delta CSR's based on "this" wildly inaccurate information?

Plus, identity theft is a REAL concern. Witnessing my zip code and DOB tossed around like candy to whoever DL wants to share it with? Amazon and most any other business don't need my DOB for transactions however air travel is a different animal - TSA requires it but does that give DL explicit rights to use it for "marketing" purposes? Not sure, but it seems WRONG to violate trust in that manner.

Yes, I've gone a bit over the top in this and other threads but when I step back and look at the assault(s) big D is making towards the Medallion program, I become agitated and distrustful of what's likely coming next?

This was fun though, in a weird way, thanks to OP for the experience!

Bicostal

I read Deltas privacy policy and it appears to be clear enough that what they are doing is legal though the fact they are supplementing the data you provide with third party Experian data is not obvious. Second, most states provide for a mechanism by which consumers can access, review, and contest the accuracy of personal identifying data retained by others about you. This is not made clear in Deltas privacy policy.

I am not concerned that they have data, I am concerned they have the wrong data and given the whole idea behind assigning customer value scores, I for one want them them to have the right answer to DYKWIA.

squatch

if you travel to the same remote work location for 1 yr, the IRS counts your reimbursable travel expenses as taxable income. it's happened to me.

DLdweeb

How did you do that?

DLdweeb

I agree. If the treatment I get is based on some calculated value, I would like the inputs to that value to be accurate. I don't think that is unreasonable.

reft

All Delta did was break cover accidentally and show their record layout. That they had the data is nothing shocking. Or at least shouldn't be. Others have far more.

Maybe this is too serious for this thread, but if you want more information how companies get this data and use it, here's a few resources. If you're hear for the fun, just skip ahead to the next post.


The Target story mentioned upthread is a chapter in the book "Habit" by Charles Duhigg. The NYTimes article covered that chapter as a book review/book promotion.

Martin Lindstrom works in this field and has several books out. He leans towards field research. He (or his team) would stalk you in a grocery store and collect data from that.

Lindstrom covers data collection as well: Chapter 9 in "Brandwashed" is titled "Every Breath you Take, They'll be Watching you. The End of Privacy". Companies use your CC data both individually to target you and in aggregate, one example given was Walmart finding out that Beer, not Batteries, is the #1 item sold before a hurricane and so knows what to stock their stores with. Big database Walmart has.

Both Major US (and UK) political parties do it too. For US, VoterVault for the Republicans and Vote Builder for the Democrats.

Privacy policies can be ineffective even when then company means well and has the best intent.

In the early days, a dot.com with a strong privacy policy which did not allow them to sell their customer list, went bankrupt. In the bankruptcy, the creditors attempted to block the destruction of the list, saying it was an asset with value and should be sold off. In other cases, law enforcement gets the entire list, not just what they need, sometimes sloppiness, sometimes something else. Anything that winds up in court may be one stop closer to being public. How again did Bernie Madoff's January 08 Amex statement wind up on the web?

"No Place to Hide" by Robert O'Harrow focuses on some big gorilla's in the business of your information. They've been selling your information for years. As noted in the Target story about pregnancy (up-thread, and Duhigg) they may know more about you than you. Or at least think they do.

Click over to infousa and you can have a mailing list in a few minutes. You don't need to create an account or log in to do queries and get back the number of records you'd be purchasing. You can't access the data they are storing, but you can see field names. One is the number of credit cards you have. InfoUSA has been in business since the 70's.

Already pointed out upthread, there are a lot of issues about the reliability of the data too. Best of luck to you if you happen to get data worse than you deserve. For better or worse the accuracy will probably improve over time, and the volume will too.

None of the above even gets into what may be happening to your medical data.

Welcome to the new Millennium. (We have cookies....and we know your FICO score.)

BER Flyer

Well said but that seems mostly an US problem. Here in europe most ( if not all ) countries have much stricter privacy laws then the US. In Germany for example hell would freeze over when an airine would use my yearly total income figure ( when not submmitted by me of course ) for marketing purposes.
The much more interesting question if DL is selling your data to "interested" other parties as the most profit in these databases is made beselling customized data sets.

PRWeezer

^

DeltaFan4Now

Certainly I inderstand the value in that, but why did they need to transfer it from Delta.com to the customer's computer? Couldn't all of that be handled opaquely from the delta.com side? Incompetent programming or something important but less obvious?

l etoile

There are numerous zips within San Francisco. I'm outside the city in a small community (13k people) that regularly makes those lists of priciest places to live. If I google the demographics of my zip, I pretty much see what DL has. As for SF, likely lots of A01s on Nob Hilll; not many in the Tenderloin.

l etoile

Clearly they developed a model about who lives in a specific community, but I don't think it's rocket science. On our own each of us could probably pick a community and come up with some spot-on observations. People in high-wealth communities read news, vote, participate in the arts, value education, travel more, buy european cars, etc. Package it pretty and - viola!

I guess I'm saying it fits, but they only know me in a broad sense.

Whole Foods knows specific things about me, almost down to my calorie intake.

MSPeconomist

She now seems to work for Manheim automotive, not DL.

Bicostal

Latent class analysis is the new cluster analysis. Keeps a lot of statisticians and MBAs employed. Problem is, GIGO at the individual categorization level.

mnredfox

Presidio Terrace?

txaggie94

Google thinks I'm a man. I guess I'd better start some "Shoe Shopping" searches PRONTO!