While this was published in 2006, I re-read it and worth the read. Here is the link.
There was one potential point of contention. In the first article Sullivan writes:
But people say one thing and do another.
Only a tiny fraction of Americans – 7 percent, according to a recent survey by The Ponemon Institute – change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at toll booths to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements.
And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Carnegie Mellon privacy economist Alessandro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a measly 50-cents-off coupon.
But woe to the organization that loses a laptop computer containing personal information.
When the Veterans Administration lost a laptop with 26.5 million Social Security numbers on it, the agency felt the lash of righteous indignation from the public and lawmakers alike. So, too, did ChoicePoint, LexisNexis, Bank of America, and other firms that reported in the preceding months that millions of identities had been placed at risk by the loss or theft of personal data.
But the difference between these two cases (loyalty cards vs. lost laptop with Social Security numbers) is the fact that with the lost laptop a financial loss could happen to the individual (identity theft) where as this would not be true with the loyalty cards even though both cases deal with Privacy issues. This would account for the reason there is a stronger reaction to the lost laptop than loyalty cards.
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