LISNews: Librarian News

When I explain to people about cookies and such I use Amazon as an example of the positive side of information gathering.

For those who hate the idea of Walmarts and miss the personal service of smaller stores isn't this the same thing? Doesn't your local grocery store clerk or pharmacist know a lot about your personal life through what your buying?

My local grocery clerk has never sold that information about me to every catalog mailer under the sun, or in fact to any junk mailer or third party at all. My local grocery store clerk doesn't provide a complete report about me to the government for security purposes. My local pharmacist now does do that, but that's just because all the small independents have either been driven out of business by the CVSs and Walgreens, or have tied in to the same Dr./pharmacy/insurance/government databases that the big boxes have.

This is the form-letter-with-my-name-in-a-handwriting-font version of personal service.

Not since HIPPA they don't. Or, if they want to keep their store, or their job, they had better not.

I think all businesses should have an opt out clause. If you don't want your information shared, they should be willing to honor that request and keep only the purchasing information for as long as it takes to make sure the buyer is satisfied. At the end of that period, the information should be expunged. If they are going to sell that information, or use it to market items to you, they should pay you, the customer, for the priviledge.

You're jumping to an extreme. If you go into a public store and buy an item off the shelf that's a public act for anyone to see. Neither you nor the government can control that in any way shape or form.

HIPPA stands for the Health Insurance Portability Act and the privacy provisions that it contains only apply to medical records. They would not apply to some store in your town.

From Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau's film, Side Effects:

"Where is Dr Schmidt in terms of Festril prescriptions?"

"He's at 2%."

"Why isn't he on board yet?"

"He likes to wait at least one year before prescribing any new drugs. It's a safety issue and he likes to reserve quinolones for compromised patients."

"What kind of idiot would reserve the most effective drug on the market? What's his reason?"

"Well, because last year, you know, when we didn't have our own quinolones to sell, we were calling him an idiot for using such a big gun when it wasn't absolutely necessary."

"Oh, it looks like you did your job a little too well last year. Have you invited him out to corporate yet?"

"No, but..."

"OK. I want him flown out to corporate. Also make sure he is signed up for the upcoming webcast with Dr Sing. I want you in his office twice a week for the next three. Got it?"

Slattery-Moschkau told the BMJ that when sales reps went into doctors' offices, they were "armed and dangerous" with prescribing information on each doctor. "They know what percentage of Prozac or Paxil a doctor prescribes," she said. "The doctor often doesn't know this and it gives [reps] an incredible advantage over the doctor."

When doctors do find out that every single drug they prescribe has been tracked and sold "for millions of dollars" to drug companies, they can "go ballistic," said one drug company insider who asked to remain anonymous. Telling a doctor about the existence of these prescription tracking lists, he said, was "not a good career move."

"This story is actually my story," said Slattery-Moschkau, adding that the tactics employed by the industry in its "dangerous pursuit" of profits sometimes came "at the expense of patients' lives."