Conspiracy Rant: Big Box Stores Out of Control

A close friend of mine, James Martin, had an experience with Target that makes me want to scream!  To begin with, James is 52 years old, white, Christian, politically Independent, and likes to pay cash for his purchases.

Yesterday James went to the Super Target by his father's house in Streamwood, Illinois on Route 59 to buy a bottle of wine.  The cashier asked him for his I.D.  Although James thought the request was ridiculous, he obliged, figuring the cashier was just doing his job.  James whipped out his driver's license and handed it over.  The cashier took the scanner and zapped the barcode on the back of the license.  

For the record, James had NO intention of writing a check or charging the wine.  That kind of payment option would alter my entire rant.  James wanted to pay in cash.  Once his license was scanned, Target had his name, birthdate, social security, address, and license number stored inside of the cash register/computer. 

Target Sucks the Big Wazoo!

James was very upset and no longer wanted to buy the wine.  He demanded to have his information deleted from the system.  The cashier called over the manager.  Both failed to delete the information they ILLEGALLY (at least in my opinion) obtained.  Staying true to his right to privacy, James verbally fought to have his personal business erased.  He asked the people behind him if they would want their personal information in the Target computer if they were paying with cash.  To his surprise, they didn't seem concerned about compromising their security.  Has all of the people turned into sheeple?

Long story short-James pays with cash in order to maintain his privacy and prevent stores from profiling him. Apparently, his brand of common sense is dissolving in America.  

Did you ever notice that the website you were looking at all of a sudden appears on the side of your emails or Facebook feed?  Did you ever receive a coupon in the mail for a product that you recently charged at a chain retail store?  Why does every store have a store loyalty card that you have to sign up for and scan in order to receive a discount?  I'm sick to death of it.  My wallet is not big enough to carry all of the store cards that I was financially blackmailed into getting.    

Let the Profiling Begin!

Did you know your purchases can be used against you?  Not only can supermarkets sell your information, but can also use it as evidence in court.  Von's Supermarket in California pulled up a man's alcohol purchases to defend themselves against a slip and fall lawsuit.  The case never went to court, but...  Very slippery, dangerous slope we are heading down!

So who is interested in you and what you buy?  The Direct Marketing Association for one.  They are one of the biggest groups that profile your purchases.  They have somehow managed to get around privacy laws with consumer "opt-out" clauses that most consumers don't even know about.

And let's not be naive.  If Target, Direct Marketing, and others can profile you by what you buy, then so can the government.  Although there are laws to prevent this, the government can purchase information from the private sector.  Companies such as Experian and ChoicePoint have multi-million dollar contracts that sell your information to good ol' Uncle Sam.

Think real hard about this. With a couple of key strokes, one can find out your hobbies, your income, your health, your style, your family, your career, your religion, your...EVERYTHING!  Another step towards New World Order?  Love to hear what you think.