&gt; I can&#x27;t help but wonder...how many real-world businesses could benefit from the same type of invasive tracking that online businesses seem to think they have a right to subject us with?<p>Most companies that collect data use it to make money. That&#x27;s not true ONLY on the web.<p>&gt; For some reason, though, we don&#x27;t allow that sort of privacy violation in our actual lives.<p>Really? Do you have any grocery store loyalty cards? Do you use a credit card? That data is shared and sold. Do you do any activities that show up on your credit report, like pay bills to a utility? That data is shared and sold. That&#x27;s how the credit rating agency got it. Do you have a set-top box? It&#x27;s probably selling data on what shows you watch. Do you have a cell phone? Location data.<p>If you actually restricted yourself to purchases which don&#x27;t involve anybody who shares your data, you&#x27;d be living in a cave.