109). But the new types of data kept by corporations are highly individualized, and contain information beyond the surface demographic to which the consumer belongs: the information is so personal it can be easily used to commit credit card or insurance fraud, and besmirch a customer's name.
While increased access to such data might be a boon to sellers it is hardly likely to be as beneficial for consumers. Sellers might weakly protest that knowing more about the consumer enables them to offer special promotions of interest to their core contingent of loyal purchasers. However, most consumers do not want to be barraged by advertising, and their information, once it leaves their possession, can easily fall into unscrupulous hands, the more it is passed around. Selling databases of consumer information is far from unheard-of. A consumer who obtained a discount on a bag of pet food with a 'rewards card' may find him or herself subject to appeals from money from the Humane Society (an irritation); while someone who purchases antidepressant medication through his or her health insurance plan might suffer repercussions in getting a job if the information is discovered by a future employer.
Since it is increasingly essential for citizens to use the information technologies to bank, shop, or work, people tend to resign themselves to the loss of privacy" (Boyce 2002, p.115). However, a firm that establishes a reputation for not using consumer data in a questionable fashion, such as selling information to other companies could gain a market advantage. Consumers are growing increasingly worried about identity theft and their lack of control over personal data (Farrell 2010).
References
Boyce, Gordon. (2002, June). Beyond privacy: The ethics of consumer information systems
Informing Science. Retrieved March 26, 2010 at http://informingscience.org/proceedings/IS2002Proceedings/papers/Boyce230Beyon.pdf
Ferrell, Linda. Marketing ethics. Cengage Learning. Retrieved March 26, 2010 at http://college.cengage.com/business/modules/marktngethics.pdf
