Thursday, January 12, 2006

When Databases Attack II

One of the consequences of buying a house is that I have been getting many direct mail promotions congratulating me on my new home and offering me a coupon or some other small savings. I know property transfers are a matter of public record but I can't help but feel a tad creeped out by what strikes me as a faintly Orwellian practice.

My favorite though was a promotion from Bank of America that completely missed the point of targeted marketing--or in fact of knowing the contents of their own database: an offer to open a new personal checking account was addressed to "New Resident" (not my name which you would figure, if they knew enough that I moved and what my address was, it would be a simple case to add a name). What I found really funny, though, was that I already have a personal checking account at Bank of America.

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