Security at Home - Menu

1. Canvassing
2. Telemarketing
3. Computer/E-commerce
4. Loan application
5. CD Club and other memberships
6. Magazine solicitations
7. Product warranty cards
8. Life insurance application
9. Donation to a charity
10. Auto and House Insurance Renewal

CD Club and other memberships

Membership has its privileges. It also can come with a price. When you purchase a video, CD or magazine in cash, at a store, no one except the cashier knows what you have bought. Purchasing clubs are convenient and offer a variety of benefits, but they also allow the suppliers to track the products that we buy. That can help companies develop a detailed psychological and purchasing profile on us. As long as you know what is being done with your information, that may not be a problem. But most people join a club only to get a product - not to have their personal information data mined, or sold for secondary uses.

You'd be surprised at what your taste in music, magazines or beer can tell the world about you. Much time and money is spent developing software and psychological profiling that helps companies determine your likes, dislikes and preferences based on the things that you buy. These days, you aren't just what you eat. You are what you consume, too.