Christmas Shopping, Business Intelligence and Your Privacy

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Attractive Woman Holds GiftsAh Christmas.  A time for reflection, thanks, family, and shopping.  As we get ready to watch the smoke billow off of our credit cards, how many of us really consider our privacy as part of the transaction?  And by privacy here we mean from the notion of how much a vendor knows about us, our buying patterns, buying preferences, selection criteria, and price sensitivity. Generally speaking, these are not the top of mind concepts that the average consumer considers when thinking of purchasing security.

This question and answer article on ebizQ does a nice job of highlighting why vendors use business intelligence software throughout the purchase process to better serve consumers.  Check out the annual “Holiday Gift Finder” which uses Spotfire to help “analyze” available gifts based on price, popularity, etc.  The article also uses one of the best ever technology quotes from Scott McNealy, “You have no privacy, get over it.

Bill Peterson
Spotfire Blogging Team

Image Credit: Microsoft Office Clip Art