Now On Sale in Aisle 3: Your Personal Data

Via reader Russ A. Dewey comes this interesting AP story about Sam's Club selling ChoicePoint employee background checks for $39.77.

In our August/September 2003 issue, Senior Editor Brian Doherty explored the changing meaning of privacy in a database nation.

Comments

[Mo]

To be honest, after I read that I kinda want to run the damn thing on myself and see what comes up. I'm not sure if the results will scare me or relieve me. If I had to put money on it though, probably the former.

[Douglas Fletcher]

As a counter to this, there needs to be a national 'employers' background database, which contains the comments of employees about whatever company they work for. I'm sure it would make interesting reading and be very popular, but no doubt whoever ran it would get sued from here to Pluto by the first big evil company that got rated. Oh well.

[Randy]

Hard to believe that Sam Walton's once venerable little company would be in the business of pimping out its employees to the highest bidder, eh? He'd be so proud to know that his workers - the people he valued most - are now valued only for the number of dollars they yield as a commodity.