Quick-scan. Thought About Privacy Rights Lately?

Errand complete. As I grabbed my credit card and reached for the cart handle I heard my name. “Hi, Mary Ellen.” (Again.) “How are you today?”

“Do I know you?” I thought furiously. My brain scanned memories for an association. Nothing. “She could be familiar,” I thought. Still nothing. “She looks like…” I forced myself to turn off the mind camera and focus on the words.

“Have you and Harris considered our Executive Membership?”

Bingo. Salesperson. Red flag: privacy.

A two-inch square screen on a machine like a tape dispenser
displayed my name, my husband’s name, our account number and the amount we’d spent in Costco year-to-date.

As a marketeer, I frequently urge business owners to capture information from their customers. Now, as a consumer, I faced the privacy issue square on.

Conflicted? Where do you stand on the issue?