Forget about Google... Facebook is gunning for Claritas and other profiling companies that have been doing this for years, though behind the scenes and not in real time (see http://epic.org/privacy/profiling/ for more about profiling).
Google may have (deservedly) gotten a black eye for the Buzz debacle, but they have a lot of cultural DNA that values privacy (their CEO aside) and at least some systems in place to allow management of personal data (as well as data exodus).
Facebook on the other hand is clearly all business and will bend privacy concepts till their either break or users are conditioned to accept lack-thereof as the new standard (all in the name of "sharing").
That is some really scary stuff in the link you gave!!! People need to realize that it's not worth the $0.25 off a can of green beans you get by using a loyalty card, if a sleazy merchant is going to swoop in at some vulnerable time in your life and help separate you from hundreds or thousands of your dollars.
Did you read the document? They use psychological tactics combined with an outrageous amount of your personal data in order to market to you. Let's supposed you just had a child or spouse die, more specifically, you were just widowed. They will be able to garner that fact from your spending habits or public records (or perhaps FB data) and combine it with all the other info they have on you, and then might try to sell you some shady investment or insurance. Their job is to get you to buy something you don't need. They're working on it while you sleep. Many people are not adequately equipped to resist their tactics.
You got it. I worked in marketing for years and was always shocked at how much personal data we could get our hands on. It makes the recent dust ups about online privacy look (almost) tame in comparison, yet these profiling companies get away with it because no one realizes what's going on.
If you're worried about it, get a loyalty card and provide fictitious information on the form. I've never been asked to provide any proof of identity to get a supermarket loyalty card.
Though if you use your loyalty card and then pay with a credit card I guess they could link back to the "real" you.
Google may have (deservedly) gotten a black eye for the Buzz debacle, but they have a lot of cultural DNA that values privacy (their CEO aside) and at least some systems in place to allow management of personal data (as well as data exodus).
Facebook on the other hand is clearly all business and will bend privacy concepts till their either break or users are conditioned to accept lack-thereof as the new standard (all in the name of "sharing").