It seems that almost everywhere you go for shopping today they are asking you to provide a lot of information. If I buy a pair of pants or paint at the hardware store I am being asked for my phone number, postal code and so on. There is absolutely no need for this, beyond it being of benefit to the retailer in terms of marketting. The recent upsurge in database breaches though has some retailers asking for relief from having to electronically warehouse credit card transactions. While a welcome development it is only coming about due to self-interest on the part of retailers. A good number of whom have been on the hook for a lot of dollars due to database breaches. For me though it all comes back to us having to give out an unreasonable amount of information every time we conduct some transaction. There is absolutely no need for it. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Technorati Tags: Database breach, Credit card fraud